Pandore
by BuggyFiction
Summary: SEQUEL TO SANCTUAIRE: Three hundred years in the future, the balance of supernaturals in New Orleans has shifted in the favor of the witches, who kicked out the vampires a few generations back. Abandoned by his siblings, Klaus returns to Mystic Falls and decides to open Pandora's box.
1. Leap of Faith

**[Normandy, France. September 13, 2014. 8:30 am.]**

The last year had been insane, insane but fun. Australia had been so much fun, not only because of it being Australia, but the people were nice. She and Kol were welcomed warmly as guests of a coven near Perth, where they spent about three months before moving and going to Brisbane. The year before Australia, they traveled through the America's, making sure to stop by Renée and Charlie as they traveled. And now? They were in Europe.

It had taken her a while to get used to having fun without being too responsible about it all. She wanted to plan things, Kol always found her notes and either burned them or hid them from her. She wanted to find a map to guide them through things; he insisted that they didn't need a map. In the end, she just gave up.

The only somewhat to be considered as a plan they made was to spend her 21st birthday in Paris, and they were currently 3 hours away from it. They'd been here for a couple of days now, exploring the Valley on horseback and having so much fun. The area was beautiful, and there were great places to have a picnic or even have sex at.

On top of that, Kol made her get up way too early after last night's drinking competition between the two of them. "Where are we going?" She asked as she rubbed her eyes in the passenger seat of their rented car. "Are we going to have breakfast first?"

"I don't think that's a good idea right now, but we can have it afterward."

She narrowed her eyes at him as she fastened her seatbelt. "I thought we were going to Paris?"

"We are," he laughed. "Not to worry, Cuddles, I promised you we'd be in Paris for your birthday, but I thought I'd surprise you with something else first."

"You have me officially worried."

 **[Normandy, France. September 13, 2014. 9:30 am.]**

She looked up at the contraption; it was a disused railway viaduct, and it was far too high in the air for it to be a pleasant way to be on. "No way," she said, shaking her head violently. "There is no way that I'm going to get up there. Why are we going up there anyway?"

"Well, the view, for one. And two… cure you of your fear of heights."

"I'm not afraid of heights, Kol."

"Oh, yes you are," he laughed as he pushed her towards the lift that didn't look like much. "If I remember correctly, every single Ferris Wheel we've been on, you've been trying to climb into me or nearly broke my hand because it was too high up in the air. When we're flying, you insist on having an aisle seat because you don't want to risk looking out the window."

"All those things don't prove a thing and you know it."

"The Eureka Skydeck in Melbourne. You didn't even dare to walk over the glass floors because you were afraid they would break, and we'd plummet all the way down."

"I'd like to keep on living, thank you very much," she huffed but allowed him to push her into the elevator.

"You screamed."

"That was highly embarrassing," she noted as she put her arms around Kol as the elevator started to move up and squeezed her eyes shut. "I'm not afraid of heights."

"Very well, since you're not afraid of heights, our next activity is something you'll enjoy," he planted a kiss on top of her head with a big smile on his face. This was going to be so much fun, although he was probably going to be in need of new eardrums after this experience.

She kept her eyes shut tight as he lead her over the first suspension bridge. It was a shame though because the view was breathtakingly beautiful. "Cuddles, open your eyes, look around," he laughed as he squeezed her hands. "Nothing's going to happen. This bridge won't break, we'll make it across safely."

She let out a little whine but opened her eyes anyway, looking straight up at him, meeting his eyes. "I hate you."

"Look around," he said encouragingly and stopped pulling her along for a moment. "We're in The Soulevre Valley, what better spot to see how gorgeous it is than from up here?"

"But I thought we explored it yesterday? Safely on horseback?"

"This is different. Trust me. Look."

She averted her eyes for a moment to look to the left of her and nodded before focussing back on him. "I did it. You're right. It's beautiful."

"You said you wanted to go on top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. How is this any different?"

"I am not afraid of heights."

He let go of her and turned to proceed to the first platform. It was only a short walk from where they were currently at and waited for her there. The first few minutes were just her staring at him, angrily before she gave in and joined him on the platform. He rewarded her with a kiss before pushing her out in front of him to make the journey to the next platform one she had to do on her own. It still puzzled him where she got these flashes of bravery from, but she marched on, probably with her eyes closed, and they made it to the next platform with ease.

It was then that Bella realized what they were going to do, and she wanted to walk back, but Kol stopped her from running away. A wicked grin was plastered on his face as one of the people who worked there secured a harness on her and him. He had informed them that he'd jumped before, but that his girlfriend was a wuss and would probably chicken out. Was this mean of him? It probably was, but it was so worth it to suffer from a shattered eardrum. He could have been crueler by having her jump all by herself, but she would be securely fastened onto him, and she would be fine.

"I fucking hate you!" She screamed as he let themselves fall off the edge and were in freefall for a while.

He loved the feeling of nothingness and the adrenaline coursing through his veins. "I love you too!" He laughed as he held on tight.

"What?" Bella's eyes snapped open, forgetting for a moment that she was currently flying through the air on an elastic band. "What did you just say?"

"That I love you!"

She let out a scream as the elastic pulled them back up before they fell again. "I love you too, but I still hate you!"

 **[Accessing current feeds]**

 **[January 15, 2311. VacTrain 345b. Destination: Richmond, VA. Estimate duration: 10 minutes.]**

"How does it feel?" Sam asked as she watched the newly resurrected witch chomp down on a steak sandwich. In the past 300 years, she had learned a lot about the supernatural community and what it truly involved hanging around with her mate, Niklaus. Nothing should surprise her anymore, but to have witnessed the passing of Daisy and Bella's resurrection was something that she hadn't seen before.

"I died an old woman after having lived a full life. While I appreciated it that they couldn't get to my bones and get me back in my own body, it takes getting some used to," Bella said with a full mouth. "But I feel energized, young, springy. I even think that Daisy was some sort of gymnast because no bones are creaking." She took a large gulp from her soda and eyed the vampire. "You need to start filling me in right now if you're taking me straight to them. Forget about the technology shit. What's going on with Klaus and Kol?"

Sam let out a deep breath. "What's not going on? Look, I've only learned of Mystic Falls' mystical significance in the last fifty years or so after we got rudely booted from New Orleans by one of your relatives."

Bella let out a snort. "Seriously? Why did he do that?"

"Klaus kept watch over your lineage, made sure that no one would go after them. In a way, he hoped to see your face again or at least someone who resembled Kol when he was a human. I was with him, but he was lonely after Elijah and Rebekah left. I couldn't fill that hole on my own and Klaus seemed to realize that, and he made a few boys vampires to keep him company. Fifty years ago, James Edward Mikaelson had enough. While he was grateful that Rebekah had found his ailing son Elijah in New York and turned him into a vampire, he had not expected that Klaus would kill another simply out of frustration."

"Go James," she said, taking another sip of her drink. "So that's why you set up shop in Mystic Falls? Why not somewhere else?"

"As you may or not be aware, they lived there for a while 800 years ago or something and returned in 2010. I don't know; maybe he got homesick. And the first 20 years it was fine, we ran into some old acquaintances of his, and he just liked toying with them but he snapped. One day Klaus just snapped and said 'the hell with it' and made a witch resurrect his brother."

"I take it he used his ashes?"

"Yep," Sam nodded. "And I'm sorry but he's just like Niklaus, if not worse."

"Worse, probably. He hated being a vampire."

"It started innocent enough with them compelling the whole town for stupid shit. As of right now, they've killed a handful members of the founding families and the capable ones are trying to either kill them or find a way to get them out of Mystic Falls. Even Klaus' acquaintances are willing to help out. This Caroline Forbes entity went to find Elijah and Rebekah and Damon and Stefan Salvatore are currently trying to stop Kol and Klaus from creating more chaos in my absence." Sam continued evenly, watching Bella as she finished her drink. "They set the courthouse on fire two days ago, and I hated to leave, but I had to get you before they do something irreversible. They've done a lot more, but I didn't sign up for this. I know Klaus has a temper and a thirst for fun, but this is too much. They'll soon destroy the town if we give can't stop them. Seeing as they're THE originals… there isn't a lot we can do. But you can, right?"

"For how long have Elijah and Rebekah abandoned Klaus?"

"300 years, give or take."

"Fuck."

 **[Mystic Falls, VA. January 15, 2311. 3:43pm.]**

While the train had reminded her of an airplane but then many times faster, the car they drove into Mystic Falls from Richmond was fully automated. There was no driver, and that was ridiculous. Sam informed her that fewer traffic accidents happened this way seeing as computers were infallible up to a certain extent and that driving a car had never been safer. The car reminded Bella of sitting in a tin can or whatever, very exposed in it's almost egg-like shape.

She knew she was bound to see more changes along the way, 300 years was a long time. For the first time in her life, she realized that this must have been the same feeling that Kol must have felt. After waking up again after his siblings decided that he had been a nuisance and daggered him for years on end. The world was unrecognizable, alien, even.

Richmond had been surrounded by man-made hills - dunes - and machinery to make sure that the rest of Virginia wasn't going to get flooded. According to Sam, Norfolk and a large chunk of Washington had been washed away by the rising water. The only reason there was still so much of New Orleans was that engineers had cut Louisiana loose from the land it connected to. They had then raised the state above sea level by pumping sand filled with self-replicating nanobots underneath it around a hundred years ago.

Nanobots, it had always been a thing out of a science fiction movie, Bella couldn't believe the technology was actually there now. It pleased her, however, to see that much of the old buildings in Mystic Falls weren't replaced by a new version of them as she had seen in Richmond. It still had its charm. Bella had been to Mystic Falls once, for a day, when she and Kol were traveling around America, and he wanted to show her the place where he died the first two times. She had found it a little bit morbid, but Kol had crazy ideas anyway.

They pulled up to the square, and the courthouse was indeed looking quite charred. It had some sort of foam around it, and Sam explained that it were tiny robots trying to rebuild the courthouse as soon as possible. Mystic Falls was a monumental little town now with tourists coming in from all over the world; a burnt down building would definitely be undesirable.

Bella stopped Sam from getting out of the car for a moment and told her to keep the engine running for a moment so that neither Klaus or Kol could accidentally hear them. "Don't tell them who I am."

Sam smirked. "I wasn't planning to; those two deserve some shit."

"I don't know if I can be this super witch you've been lead to believe that I am; I'm still a bit wobbly, and I'm definitely out of practice."

"As long as you have enough juice to make sure that they don't see you as lunch, you'll be fine." She had been reading in the book that Mandy had brought them as to kill the time for when Bella would come to. It was old, but it spoke of how Bella and Kol made a great team back in the day, working in tandem with Klaus against the wolves to restore the balance. It had been an interesting read indeed, and it was strange why it had been kept out of the digital updates the kids these days were so in to.

She nodded and took a deep breath as she tried to look into the rear view mirror to fix her hair. Another change was the color of her eyes - they were blue now - and her height. She estimated that she was about 3 inches shorter, but then again, Kol would be a little bit shorter himself, not by much, but still shorter. "How do I look?"

"Appetizing." Sam shut off the car before getting out. "Don't be nervous. It'll be fine. Don't get eaten because I do not want a bunch of angry witches getting their revenge for allowing you to get bit."

Appetizing, Bella thought and mentally braced herself. Right. With two out of control Original vampires and a normal one being Klaus' mate, she was going to have a hard time not ending up as a snack. She hoped that both Klaus and Kol would know better than to take a chunk out of her. She at least deserved that courtesy.

The sound of Klaus and Kol's laughter could be heard out of the open window of the restaurant when she passed it and paused for just one second to listen to it. She had missed the sound of their laughs. Even now that Kol was back in his original body, the laugh stayed the same; music to her ears, although she could hear a little bit of sadness in it and her heart broke. She was sad too that they were back amongst the living as it had never been their intention.

She let out a breath and followed Sam into the Mystic Grill, not surprised by how modern it all looked and the number of vampires there were actually in it. Two were actually dueling with what looked like spoons while the others sat quietly on the side, looking at the two dueling. They looked like the Salvatore brothers, but surely, they would have been smart enough to move away from Mystic Falls and not stick around for 300 year? It didn't require a genius to figure out that Klaus and Kol had compelled them for their enjoyment.

"My love!" Klaus greeted Sameen heartily. Bella could see him sitting next to Kol, on top of the bar with a bottle of bourbon in his hand. "You have returned!"

"And you brought a snack," Kol replied, lingering on the 'k'. He looked so handsome as he looked at her as if she was indeed a snack. Hunger and lust flashed over his face, followed by pain but quickly covered up with hunger again.

All Bella wanted to do was to close the space between them, drag him off the bar and kiss him. And to tell him that everything was going to be okay because she was back now, and she was going to fix things for him. But he and Klaus had been bad, and they needed to be set straight. If Elijah wasn't here to do it, then she was going to have to. "What the fuck," she exclaimed from her spot near the exit.

"Oh, and such a dirty mouth too," Kol said with a grin.

"She's not a snack," Sam said as she joined her mate's side and took a swig of bourbon before pointing at the two spoon fighting vampires. "Really, Niklaus? You compelled your babysitters?"

"I don't need babysitters, love," he replied, snatching the bottle out of her hand and took another swig. "Besides, they're so good at it; it's great entertainment."

"Release them."

"You're no fun," Klaus said as he pushed the bottle back into Sameen's hands and tapped the Salvatore brothers on their shoulder to make them look at him. "You can stop now. Feed on the human."

"I said, the human isn't a snack."

Bella looked at the two advancing vampires and held her hand up to create a shield and started to push them back before walking into the grill. "I'd like to have a sandwich, I'm hungry," she stated as she looked at her beautiful Kol. "Make me one?"

He let out a snort in return and took a swig of his bottle. "How about I put you in a sandwich and eat you, darling?"

"Oh, no, thanks," Bella said, slamming the two vampires who came at her against the wall. "I've tried that kind of a sandwich before, wasn't really what I wanted."

"You must have some nerve to walk in here as if you own the place," Klaus said as he watched Stefan and Damon get smacked against the wall again. Compelled vampires were a great source of entertainment.

"I could," Bella said with a nod. "You know, own the place. The courthouse is just across the … oh no, wait, you burnt that down. Silly me. Blonde," she said with a giggle and smacked the two vampires against the wall again before simply snapping their necks as they kept advancing. She then reached out her hands and smacked the two bottles of liquor out of the two original vampires' hands. "I think the two of you need a time out."

Klaus growled as he looked at Sameen. "You brought a witch back?"

Sameen shrugged for an answer.

"You're supposed to be on my side."

She simply rolled her eyes at him.

"Where did you dig up this witch?" Kol asked. The short, blonde girl intrigued him. The way she held herself was majestic as if she - indeed - owned the place. She was fearless. The only human in a bar filled with vampires. All Klaus had to do was to release his inner circle from their compulsion, and they'd be on top of her within a flash. "Is this a gift from you to me?" He smirked at Sameen, who shrugged her shoulders again. "Is she supposed to be my snack?"

"Maybe I'm supposed to be worshipping you, Kol Mikaelson," Bella said with a soft purr as she unapologetically pushed Klaus into a table for being an ass and took a few steps towards him. "Look at you, all handsome with your dark brown eyes and your hair… god, your hair is on point today," she said breathlessly.

Kol swallowed hard as this pocket-sized blood bag advanced on him. She was intriguing. "You know of me?"

"Of course," she said simply as she nodded towards Klaus. "Him too, but I'm not interested in him. He's just a loser who can't do much without his siblings to support him."

Klaus let out a low snarl that ended up sounding as if a dog was being kicked. Why wasn't Sameen doing anything? Why did she bring this witch to the Mystic Grill? Only to fuck with their heads? What was his love up to? Did she bring the witch as a potential mate for Kol?

"The witches sing the praises of the handsome Kol Mikaelson, who reunited the covens over 300 years ago. How he freed them from the harvest for once and for all," Bella stood right in front of him, looking up at him through her lashes. "How does it feel to see a few of your lineage turned into the thing you detest being?"

Anger and hurt flashed across his face as he hopped off the counter and stood toe to toe with the little witch. He could easily snap her in half if he wanted to. "How dare you," he breezed.

"Hmm…" Bella exaggerated her thinking pose by tapping on her lips as she looked up to the ceiling before launching Kol off his feet and dragged him across the bar a few times before Klaus threw her across the grill. "Ow," she said, rubbing her head as it hit the wall. "Careful now, this body isn't indestructible."

Sam pulled Klaus with her to a corner. "Leave them be," she whispered calmly.

"Oh, don't do that," Bella said to Sam. "Niklaus is more than welcome to vent his frustration and anger on me. I can take it."

"I'd rather not see him get hurt."

"Ah, but he deserves it. You told me that they both deserved a good ass kicking."

Kol snorted and closed the gap between himself and the witch, picking her up from the floor by the throat and pushed her against the wall. "Who are you?"

"Wouldn't you like to know," she replied with a strained voice, her feet kicking underneath her, trying to kick him so he'd let her go. Bella realized she had tapped out of her magic for the time being, and that sucked. "Please, Kol, let me go."

"Tell me."

"No."

Kol breezed as he kept looking at her, squeezing her throat shut, thinking of his options. Yes, he had been bored, and he could have a lot of fun with this witch, screwing her brains out, for one. He could do with a human pet. Raging against Niklaus for 30 years had been great but it was tiresome because, in the end, he could understand why his brother had resurrected him. Both Elijah and Rebekah had abandoned him, and it was something Kol would never do, despite their differences. Then again, what was he going to do with a human pet? They never lasted long with him. He'd probably burn her out in a matter of days, she didn't look that sturdy. As he was weighing his options, Sam put her hand on his arm and gently pat him on his back.

"Let her go, big guy," she said calmly. "The witch doesn't deserve your wrath and you don't want to kill this particular witch if you want to be left in peace."

"Why is that?"

"She's special."

"All the more reason to kill her," he said as he squeezed a little tighter, loving how the color drained from the girl's face.

Sam looked at Bella and sighed. "I have to tell him or he'll kill you."

"Tell me what?"

Bella let out a strangled noise; she had wanted to do so much more, fuck more with Kol's head before revealing who she was. However, she hadn't counted on her magic still being on the fritz, even though she could have expected it seeing as she just came back to life a few hours ago.

"You're strangling your wife," Sam whispered before stepping back as Kol immediately dropped the girl to the floor.

Bella gasped for air as she scrambled to her feet, looking angrily at Sam for telling Kol, but one look at Kol made her realize that he didn't quite believe Sam to begin with. It had been the shock that made him drop her. "Honey, I'm home?" she said with a raspy voice and tried to smile.

"No, I don't believe you," Kol said to Sam before walking back to the bar to fetch himself a fresh bottle of hard liquor. "This is low, Sam, even for your standards."

It only took one look at Sameen for Klaus to realize that his love was speaking the truth and blinked at Bella, who was still trying to compose herself. The girl had blonde hair and blue eyes; she was shorter and she smelled different but it made sense why she honed in on Kol so much when she got in. He then looked at his compelled vampires and told them to leave the grill because this was something they didn't have to watch. Neither Kol or Bella deserved that, and it was good to give them some space. "I'm so screwed," he muttered as he sat down and pulled his mate in his lap.

"Yes, yes you are," Sam replied and gently pat his head.

Bella made her way over to the bar and tapped herself a glass of water as she looked at Kol, anger and grief set on his face. "It's me," she said as she reached for him, but he pulled away. She rounded the bar and sat down on a stool next to him. "For my 21st birthday you promised we'd be in Paris, but we weren't. You took me bungee jumping in another attempt of curing my fear of heights and in all of the excitement of the jump you confessed you loved me. You told me you loved me, and I told you I loved you too. That was the first time we expressed that verbally to each other."

Kol looked at her as he took a sip of his drink. "And we used to tell that story to our children and grandchildren. Parts of that story surely must have survived all these years."

Bella sighed. "When we were in Finland, I was in labor of our first daughter. I was in so much pain, and you proceeded to ask me to marry you. I scolded you for always picking the wrong time to tell me things."

He snorted, but a small smile appeared on his face of that memory. "Yet again, a story for the grandchildren."

Bella set her jaw and looked over her shoulder, looking at Klaus and Sam. They were acting as if they weren't listening in, but Bella knew better. She then looked back at Kol and grinned. "Both Patrick Swayze movies, Ghost and Dirty Dancing, girl movies, make you cry."

Klaus' laughter filled the Mystic Grill. "Is that true?"

"Oh yeah, every single time," Bella said with a grin as she caressed Kol's cheek. "The flood gates open when they do that last dance in the movie where Johnny lifts Baby into the air. She finally trusted him enough to perform that lift. So beautiful." She turned Kol's face to look at him. "That night we had the horses in Normandy, we stripped off all of our clothes and rode them naked until we found the perfect spot to make love underneath the stars. The horses then got spooked when we accidentally had a magical discharge."

"You're here?" He asked softly as he looked at her, hope flashing all over his face. "It's really you, Cuddles?"

Bella felt how a tear escaped from her eye. "You have no idea how long I've waited to hear you say that to me again."

Kol grabbed her face with both his hands and kissed her greedily.

Sam looked at Klaus and sighed. "Damn, I forgot to get the popcorn out," she deadpanned. She was glad that in the end, it worked out, but Bella had been too close to dying. If she was going to have to do what the witches wanted from her, she needed to be breathing. At least for now, the town of Mystic Falls would be a lot safer as they had a lot to talk about, a lot of catching up to do. Bella was the distraction that both Klaus and Kol needed right now, and Sam could take a breather. It had been a long 300 years, but there was finally light at the end of the tunnel.


	2. Taking Chances

**[Manhattan, NY. June 22nd, 2088. 10:11 am.]**

It'd been years since the last of 'Team Machine' had died. Of course, Sam was still around, but once everyone had visibly started aging, she had upped and left and in secret started another Team on the opposite coast. Mainly because the Machine had begun to evolve, despite her creator's wishes, and there were plenty of people to save. To monitor.

But, just as with her last gig, people started to age around her, and she moved back to New York. She loved it how her friends were at the same cemetery, next to each other. It made it a whole lot easier to visit them. Not that she cared. Sameen Shaw didn't do feelings very well, but on occasion, she couldn't help but think of them and how brilliant they all had been and had to visit their graves to leave fresh mementos.

Harold would get a small piece of the latest technology, as he would have gotten a kick out of that. John, well, it depended on what her mood was, really. She left a gun one time, and that quickly got stolen, so she settled for the latest burger she was addicted to. Root was the hardest but had she been alive, she'd have appreciated the gesture of Sam leaving flowers on her grave. Detective Fusco always got superglue, Sam always imagined gluing his mouth shut for some reason and Bear… losing Bear was the hardest, he'd been the first, but it had been the hardest. Chew toys, kibble, a new collar… nothing was too expensive for that dog.

Sam wasn't sentimental, but her friends needed to be looked after, even in their death.

The Machine was her constant companion now. Built to monitor threat levels for terrorism for the government, The Machine had slowly become obsolete. She kept upgrading herself but with so many new technologies for law enforcement - such as androids - and mini versions of The Machine with the newest technology and better software, now readily available for everyone but civilians; there wasn't much she could do than to verify incoming threats. The Irrelevant; the murders, the home invasions, the frauds and everything else, became more of a priority somewhere in 2050, as they were, once again, overlooked.

As the Machine evolved, she started to find candidates to create small pockets of teams who would work the Irrelevant cases. Sam would have the final say, but it was the Machine who knew best. She felt somewhat proud that Harold Finch's legacy continued to do so much good for the world in an age where it was harder to do things off the radar.

Both Sam and The Machine were showing their age, but at least they still had each other.

[Message:] It's time.

"Time for what?" Sam took a sip of her drink as she sat on John's grave with her back against his stone. One of the evolutions the Machine went through was proper communication just like Samaritan had done. Harold hadn't liked it and had completely ignored it, but Sam had always been open to it. The Machine was precise. She knew things, and once she had started to communicate with her, she could appreciate why Root had always been so infatuated with her "God".

[Message:] For your happy ending.

"I don't do happy," she huffed, taking another sip. She'd done happy, once. And maybe it was twisted or not, but it was when she met her maker. Literally. Niklaus Mikaelson had charmed her, wrapped her around his finger, saved her life by turning her and then broke her heart when he left without telling her where he was going. She had appreciated his honesty and the way that he seemed to care. On top of that, the sex had been incredible, but he simply upped and left.

She could have gone and tracked him down, but her anger told her not to. And even after all these years, she was still pissed off. Holding grudges was something she did best; it made her an awesome marksman. Sam wasn't even sure he was still alive.

[Message:] Niklaus is going to need you.

Huffing again, she downed her bottle and set it atop John's headstone. "He wasn't there for me when I needed him when everything was still new."

[Message:] You had help. You are all alone now. Niklaus will soon be all alone too.

"So?"

[Message:] History shows that he's not good on his own. People will be in danger.

"What are you saying?" Oh, Sam knew what the Machine was telling her. Niklaus Mikaelson was going to be her newest project; it was time to face the hurt he had put her through and rip off his balls for doing so. Contain the monster, sort to speak.

[Message:] New number; name Niklaus Mikaelson, The Abattoir, French Quarter. New Orleans, Louisiana.

"Fuck you," she grumbled as she got to her feet. "Send someone else."

[Message:] Negative. Unable to comply.

"Fuck you," she said again before nodding towards her friends and headed into the direction of her apartment. She needed to pack.

 **[Royal Street, New Orleans, LA. June 24th, 2088. 3:45 pm.]**

She wanted to have all the facts. If Klaus would do something stupid, surely she'd get to hear about that before her investigation was over. Sam wanted to know as much as possible of her maker before she'd decide to kick his ass.

She wanted to investigate because she wanted to spend more time in New Orleans as she wasn't sure how long she was going to be there in the first place. New Orleans was magical, even with all the added new technology, New Orleans, especially the French Quarter, hadn't lost their touch. Sam had found the Abattoir yesterday, upon arrival in New Orleans. It surprised her that this old woman was shuffling behind a walking aid and right onto the courtyard at least twice that day. Sam couldn't help but laugh when she used her vampire senses to overhear one of the conversations.

"When are you going to stop moping?" The old woman scolded someone. "They're gone. Everyone's gone. Soon I'll be gone too and _you_ have to take care of my family. Watch over them, because I certainly won't be able to when I'm dead."

"Quit your whining, you old bat. It's the same discussion every single day," Klaus snarled. Sam had to smile at that. He certainly hadn't changed. It was fascinating to think of the reasons why he hadn't killed the woman yet. However, Klaus' spat was followed by a thud and him taking a deep breath as the woman seemingly had knocked out the air out of his lungs. How was that possible?

"I need to know you're going to be okay, Klaus," the woman sounded angry. "I've tried to reach out to Rebekah and Elijah, but they're having too much fun on their own to look back. Mostly because they know Kol and I looked after you."

"I don't need looking after, Bella, now leave before I drain your body from the little blood it has left."

"I've already outlived two of my children; I don't think I'll be around for much longer," Bella sounded sad. Her shuffling feet coming towards the exit of the courtyard seemed heavier as when they'd first arrived. "Isabella and Kol already promised to keep an eye on you."

"I don't care about your grandchildren, Bella."

Sam sighed as she retreated to the shadows. Klaus cared, he cared deeply. She could hear it in his voice. He was a scared little boy who was going to lose someone he cared about. He was going to be left behind, and that was a strange side of him that Sam hadn't experienced yet. This was fascinating, she needed a little bit more time to figure out the dynamics of Klaus' family. He had a family. Talk about entering Bizarro land.

 **[Accessing current feeds]**

 **[Mystic Falls, VA. Former Salvatore Boarding House. January 15, 2311. 5:34 pm.]**

Bella was sitting in front of the fire with a blanket around her as she tried to get warm and ignore the two rebelling vampires in the house. She had managed to persuade Klaus and Kol to release the restaurant back into human hands and had then bullied Stefan and Damon in allowing them to stay at their house for the time being. Until she was recharged. Until she was 100 percent.

Of course, she couldn't do that with an easy mind if there were a chance of possible escaping of Kol and Klaus, on their hunt to cause more mischief. Kol's realization that Bella was back had only lasted for half an hour or so before his mood turned sour again, but she wasn't up for fighting him just yet.

She had recharged enough to cast a house wide spell that all vampires couldn't leave the house. Damon and Stefan just took it in stride and retreated to their bedrooms to make sure that they wouldn't end up in the fire Bella was currently staring into. Sam was trying to make sure that Kol and Klaus wouldn't demolish the entire house trying to get out. There was no use. The spell was in place.

"You know, as much fun as this is," Sam remarked as she sat down next to Bella to look at her. "Couldn't you just have put them to sleep?"

Bella shrugged. "This is indeed more fun, but go ahead and do some neck snapping if you get tired of them. They'll calm down eventually and accept their fate." A playful smile appeared on her face. "I've done this to Klaus a few times in the past for threatening my children. It also involved some sharp implements following him around the compound. So much fun."

"Sounds a bit childish to me."

"Well, then he shouldn't have threatened my children," Bella replied as she looked at Sam. "I am sorry you had to deal with this," she apologized. "Have you tried finding Rebekah and Elijah?"

Sam huffed. "I'm not stupid, of course, I have. They came back a few times and Klaus settled again under their influence, but they're acting like selfish children."

"Now, that's not nice. They've been around for a very long time, and they have a good heart. They, along with Kol, saved my life. Sure, the first time they upped and left was after Kol passed. But they should have come back after I was gone. No offense to you, of course."

"None taken, but so that you know," Sam said as she got to her feet. "I've been loyal. I've been helping him get through this, and he started to get better until he resurrected your husband. Those two together are a nightmare. Was he like that before? Kol?"

"A nightmare?" Bella grinned as she tightened the blanket around her. "Never. It's simply one of his quirks, and I loved him for it." She thumbed over her shoulder to a sulking Kol sitting on the couch with his arms crossed over his chest as if he was a small child. "Vampire Kol is something entirely different but he doesn't believe it's truly me yet so," she shrugged. "We'll see."

"You know we can hear you two speak, don't you darling?"

"Yep," Bella replied and then looked around for a phone. "I'm kinda hungry, how does one go about ordering food these days?"

Sam snorted as she got up. "What are you in the mood for?"

"Anything, really."

"Bella likes chicken. Fried, plain, grilled… as long as it's chicken you'll be safe," Kol answered as he kept his eyes on Bella. "Whose body are you wearing?"

She turned around and smiled at him. "Why? You like?" She teased as she twirled her blonde hair. "This is one of the last girls of our line, at least so far. She willingly gave it up, apparently."

"Well, nobody ever said that we Mikaelsons weren't bonkers," he said with a shrug. "And yes, I like but I miss your face."

"Ah," Bella nodded as she fumbled in her jeans for some paper and used a spell to take it to Kol. "I nicked this from one of the books they had in the loft."

He caught the paper, and when he opened it, a huge smile appeared on his face. "That's us at your graduation party," he said as his eyes kept focused on the image. "That's such a long time ago."

"But we had fun," Bella pointed out.

"I dared you to do something stupid and you didn't do anything stupid because you were such a chicken."

"You got me to dance, wasn't that dumb enough?"

"Oh no, because you didn't do something stupid, I did and kissed you."

"You nearly killed that teacher in revenge for sending us off that dancefloor," she countered. She was happy that even though he was back in his rightful body, his memories of her were still there. The memories of their life together. She didn't know if she'd be able to handle it if Kol's resurrection had lead to full or partial reboot. And despite they both felt a little bit uneasy about the whole resurrection business, she was glad that at least the bickering still felt the same.

"Exactly. Nearly isn't the same as actually killing him," he retorted as he finally slinked off the couch and sat down next to her. "Did they get you back so you can turn me back to being a human?" He eventually asked as he looked at his hands.

"No," she said softly as she reached out to caress his hair. "We have a lot of work to do in New Orleans, and I know that you can't enter, that's why they got me back. So that I can lift the spell because the Mikaelsons who are still alive don't want to raise it, and they wanted me to fix everything for them without you."

Kol huffed as he leaned into her and put his head on her shoulder. "That's entirely Nik's fault, he kept terrorizing generations of your lineage and went on killing sprees to thin out the population even further."

" _Our_ lineage."

"Technically they're all yours. Yours and Kaleb's. There wasn't a drop of Mikaelson blood in our children. They carried the name, but they're not Mikaelsons."

She knew he was right, technically, they weren't his by blood. But they were his because she made them with him even if he wasn't in his right body. And to hear him say that his kids weren't his, simply hurt. They were. She was there when they created them and when she had to go through labor to get them out. "You're an asshole," she said as she pushed him away from her.

"Yeah, I know, but I'm right. They're still my kids, I mean, you and I created them and had so much fun while doing that, but they're not related to me. Not to this Original body. And that means not to your current body either."

"Stop it."

"No, because don't you see, Cuddles? It means that I can have sex with you in your current body without feeling incestuous."

"You just want to have sex with this body, period. It's a hot body," she stated as she looked at him. It was true, her own body had been without curves, almost looking like a boy and he had loved it, but this body, Daisy's body, had hips and bigger breasts. Hell, Bella would do herself if she could.

"Oh yes," Kol said as he hungrily licked his lips. "It is. But I'm just glad you're inside of it."

She huffed as she hugged her knees to her chest. "Sorry to disappoint you, but until this afternoon I was quite dead and before that I was old and creaky. No sex."

"Ever?"

"I didn't say that."

~0~0~0~

Klaus wasn't too happy with his mate right now, especially because he was currently confined to a house. He couldn't go out and exert his rage and still his thirst, and that made him even angrier. "I'm going to sink my teeth into the delivery guy," he snarled as he opened the door and waited. He couldn't get out, but that didn't mean he couldn't invite the poor human in.

"You will do no such thing, you're already high on blood." Sam just stated as she looked at him. "Besides, they deliver with drones now, in case you've forgotten."

He growled as he turned to his mate. "Why did you resurrect her? She didn't want to be resurrected, in fact, I went as far as trying to delete her from history so she'd be left in peace!"

"You're afraid because she can actually kick your ass better than I can."

"Sameen, don't test my patience."

"I didn't resurrect her," she countered as she crossed her arms over her chest and relaxed. "The witches were desperate for help, so they asked me. They spelled me so I could get through the barrier that's keeping you out. Apparently the latest batch of Mikaelson witches do want a change in New Orleans. However, it's being made impossible because their regent has gone off the reservation. Then there's the influx of new witches and the werewolves taking over the city. They thought I could help."

Klaus huffed. "They should have allowed us back in."

She grabbed the nearest heavy object and threw it at him. "If you might recall, it used to be my job to help people, before I became your babysitter, asshole."

"Continue," he said as he expertly caught the lamp and set it down at his feet.

"Something about a harvest, I don't know, I wasn't really paying attention to that."

"Bella and Kol made sure that wouldn't be necessary anymore when they became regents," Klaus said surprised. "Not that I care about the lives of the witches, but why did they reinstate it?"

"How the hell should I know?" Sam countered angrily. "All I know is that the girls' mother is the current regent and off the reservation. Then this other witch came with a solution, some witch she found in old books." She pointed at Bella. "She talked about her as if she was the most powerful witch ever, almost in a creepy way, like… she'd worship the ground she'd walk on."

"I wouldn't say she was the most powerful witch ever," Klaus said with a smile on his face. "Determined, yes. Powerful, sure. Not the most powerful witch, but of her line, yes. Definitely the most powerful."

"Oh, not you too," Sam rolled her eyes at him. She had just overheard Kol saying it to Bella, and she couldn't believe that someone would actually say that to a mother.

"Well, it's the truth, isn't it? The only reason I kept so many of them alive was because of Bella."

Sameen shrugged. "Bottom line, they resurrected her so she could help them with their problem and me with mine," as she pointed at the boys.

"And what's your problem, love?" He foolishly asked.

"You and Kol," she replied as she intercepted the drone and grabbed the bag before throwing the drone back out the door. "You two are out of control and without your siblings to reign you in, I needed the help before I took an extended vacation myself."

Klaus laughed. "We're not even that bad."

"Yes, you are," Sam walked over to Bella and handed her the bag with food before returning to Klaus. "You need to seriously calm down and get yourself under control before you do things that are irreversible."

"Such as?"

"Destroying Mystic Falls, for one," she stated and then sighed. She didn't do feelings. "You could go down even further down the slippery slope you're on and kill me."

"I could never."

"You don't know that, and frankly, right now, I don't even know that. So I welcome the help that Bella can provide. I don't mind being locked in a house right now until she's back to full strength.

"No, I don't, but at least you're a vampire. Bella's a human," he said as he pointed at his sister-in-law, who was quietly chatting to his brother. "He could easily flip the switch back to rage and kill her, thought about that before you agreed to resurrect her to help you fix your problem with us? Or what about us?"

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, dear Sameen," he sighed as he tiredly rubbed his eyes. "We both have a healthy dose of rage within us. We could end up killing Bella, despite your best intentions. Then Kol could end up killing you for taking away his mate and then we'd both be without the ones we love."

"I trust in her for knowing this and take the right course of action," Sam huffed. "She's a witch. Look at us, she locked us in a house!"

"And she's fizzled out because you didn't think she needed to save her strength first. Well done," he slowly clapped before reaching for a bottle of Whiskey. "Better get drunk, so we're easier to fight off, shall we?"

"She's not fragile."

"Yes, she is!" Klaus breezed as he threw the full bottle across the living room, startling Bella, causing Kol to jump to his feet, ready to protect her when needed. "She's locked herself in a house with five vampires. Sure, she could run if she's fast enough."

"I didn't know you cared that much," she simply stated. Oh, she knew. And maybe she had been foolish, but the girl could take care of herself, couldn't she? She wasn't sure anymore.

"It's that they both rejected my offer to turn them. Had they accepted, they wouldn't have died in the first place, and they wouldn't have left me. Kol can't be killed, he's an Original. But I can't see her die again, Sameen, not by our hands or of old age," Klaus quietly spoke as he found another bottle in the cabinet. "As you said, Kol and I are unstable right now, but so are you, my love. You just don't see it."

She didn't know what to say about that other than that she was sorry, but she didn't apologize. Instead, she watched how the little witch walked towards them and pulled Klaus into a hug.

"It's going to be okay," Bella softly said as she caressed his back. "I promise you, everything is going to be okay. Just take a deep breath, I'm not going anywhere anytime soon."

"Promise me, Bella," he said as he took a deep breath, just as he was told, and significantly calmed down. He remembered spending hours with her holding him after Kol died and after his other siblings left. At first he had thought it was quite weird for him to do this, so out of character and was ashamed to admit it that he needed it from time to time. But as Bella had been gradually progressing towards her old age, he realized that she needed it too. She wanted to make sure he was going to be fine after she'd gone, and he hadn't been.

Yes, Sameen had helped. Her companionship was needed, but for some reason, she couldn't give him what he'd missed. Hugs from Bella. Her soothing words. Apart from Sameen, she had accepted him the way that he was and hadn't been afraid of him. Especially after Bella learned to control her magic, she was never afraid of him and even took the piss out of him. He admired that in her. The first human to like him and not to be scared him.

"I promise," she said as she let go of him and smiled at him. "Just try to control yourself while I'm still recovering, okay? I'll be fine." Bella gently caressed his arm before walking back to her spot near the fire to finish her dinner.


	3. I'll be waiting

**[Vienna, Austria. June 26th, 2015. 12:00 pm.]**

Bella loved being able to take things slowly while exploring the world. She and Kol had nothing to tie them down, they didn't have to worry about money, they could do anything they wanted and she loved it. They had been in Vienna for about a week, exploring the beautiful gardens of Schloss Schönbrunn, for example, along with the palace itself. Sure, it was very touristy, but without time constraints, they could really enjoy themselves and get lost in the beauty for a while.

They'd also gone to a Formula One race that was being held on June 21st, only a few hours away from Vienna. Mostly to satisfy their curiosity as they heard people speak of the sport on their travels. Bella absolutely loved it, the sound of the cars and the whole atmosphere at the circuit was simply a great experience.

She had never been to a car race before, neither had Kol, and she loved it that they could both experience something new, together. It wasn't a boring race either as in the first round, two riders collided with each other and ended on top of each other. Luckily, they were both okay, but for a moment, the onlookers were quiet and after both men had been clearly alright, they clapped for them.

And today, they were at Hofburg, the former imperial palace of Austria and its rich history. Kol thought it was cute how Bella had a weak spot for historical sites, how she appreciated the stories and the way everything looked. That was another reason he loved her so much; she liked hearing him talk about the past. He knew that it was important that he looked to the future too; a future with his Bella.

He had to admit he was a tiny bit nervous when they went to the imperial apartments of the Palace, the imposing Emperor's Staircase being just that; imposing. And it was the perfect spot for what he was about to do. Halfway up the staircase he stopped Bella from going up even further and softly kissed her. "Are you having fun?"

"Yeah," she smiled up at him. "Maybe a little bit too much fun than is actually legal."

"You can't ever have too much fun," he kissed her again and caressed her hair. "Life's too short for that. And it's too short to wait for anything else. But I do want to spend the rest of my life with you."

"Good, so do I," she smiled and softly kissed him before tugging on his arm. "Come on, we're missing the tour."

"I'm trying to ask you to marry me, Cuddles," he laughed. "We have all the time in the world, could I at least finish attempting to propose to you?"

Bella stopped in her tracks and looked at his hopeful face before letting out a sigh. She softly caressed his cheek as she smiled at him. "I'm not ready for that yet, can't we just enjoy ourselves?"

"So, I can ask you again?"

"Yes, when I'm ready, you can ask me again, and I'll have an answer for you," she smiled at him, kissing him briefly before pulling her with him. "I won't let you down."

"So that's a yes, isn't it?" He grinned, the weight he had felt had fallen off his shoulders. "Because you do want to marry me."

"Kol!" She whined.

 **[St. Basil's Cathedral, Moscow, Russia. September 13th, 2015. 3:50 pm.]**

Bella was taking pictures of the Cathedral to send off to Charlie, show him what they were doing on her birthday. Charlie thought that them traveling through Europe was a great thing, to gain some experience before getting back into the real world and lead normal lives. Kol always had to laugh when Charlie mentioned them leading a normal life because there was no such thing as normal when you were a Mikaelson.

She wanted to go inside the building, and he happily obliged as he'd have an excellent view of her ass when they'd climb the spiral staircase to the center of the Cathedral. "So, if we ever get married, what would you like it to be? Small? Big?" He pointed around them. "In a gorgeous church?"

Bella merely eyed him.

"What?"

"We're not discussing this."

"Do you have a thing against marriage?"

"Why do you want to get married so bad?" She sighed exasperatedly. "Do you really wish to rub the noses of your siblings into the fact that you have a normal, human life? Rebekah wants what you have and can't have it, she'll be devastated."

"For a moment, yes, but she loves you to bits and would want to help out with the preparations."

"She'll turn into a bridezilla and I'll get the blame."

He wanted to say something witty in return but decided against it. One of these days he was going to figure out why she was against marriage. He could understand she wasn't ready for it, and he'd be patient, not ask her again for a long time, but she was holding something back, and that was exciting. A puzzle to be made and figured out.

 **[** **Târgu Jiu** **, Romania. February 14th, 2016. 11:44 am.]**

They had been spending a couple of weeks with some Romani witches, learning from them and teaching them things. Bella hadn't liked the cold very much. There was too much snow, and she hated it. There wasn't a day where she wouldn't curse him for taking her to Romania when it was cold. She'd rather have been somewhere a little warmer.

The plus side was that a lot of sex was going on between the two of them. Secretly, this had been Kol's intention all along. Just to step back, relax, hang out with other witches and sex. But, it didn't come as a surprise to him that her Valentine's Day gift was two plane tickets back to America. She missed her mother, and she wanted to check up on Charlie and surely, Kol wanted to see if his siblings were doing alright?

She promised him that once the temperatures would rise in Romania, they'd return. She liked the witches they had been staying at, but the frost dampened her spirits too much. He hadn't fancied traveling 100 miles to Bucharest on the day to celebrate love, but why not? He loved her; she wanted to go home for a while, why not?

While they were packing, he decided to ask her again. "Why are you against marriage? Didn't you want to marry Edward?"

"Yeah, but that was because I had an ulterior motive," she replied as she slammed her case shut. She still didn't like to talk about Edward or hear his name. He could understand that, but the asshole was a part of her history. A part of her. She needed to come to terms with that. "I wanted to become a vampire and he'd make me one if I'd marry him."

"That's stupid."

"I know."

"Especially considering he was a douche."

"I know," she said furiously. "Can you drop it?"

She didn't speak to him on their long trip to Bucharest, but once they were on the airplane she sighed and apologized to him. "I'm sorry, I'm just…"

"I understand," he replied as he softly kissed her. "I won't ask you again."

"Oh, don't you dare ask my parents," she threatened. "I'll chop off your foot and feed it to you."

 **[Accessing current feeds]**

 **[Mystic Falls, VA. Former Salvatore Boarding House. January 19th, 2311. 4:15 pm.]**

It had been impossible, no, not impossible, more along the lines of unsafe for her to contain the vampires to the house for longer than three days. They had drank through the entire alcohol supply in the house and had started to get antsy; even Stefan, who was usually the stable one. It hadn't been her intention to keep them locked up for that long anyway. It was unfair towards the Salvatore brothers. According to Sameen they had actually stepped up to the plate and tried to do as much damage control as they could; before Klaus and Kol decided to use them as puppets. It had been unfair to Sameen as well, and Bella truly felt sorry about it. She never wanted them to starve; she wanted to make sure that she was well enough to be dealing with the mess.

But she had been selfish by locking up the vampires and after apologizing and some negotiating, she let them out. The terms were these; she was going to venture into town to restock and get some food. She needed to cook because ordering in was getting a bore (she found out that Daisy's stomach couldn't handle certain spices very well). And they were allowed to feed. To make it interesting for them, she allowed them to go after the Bennett witches in Mystic Falls. And only them, this to send those in New Orleans a message. And, strangely enough, they agreed. Stefan could go after their pets and, of course, the wildlife if he didn't have enough.

She had let them out yesterday and still hadn't returned. She hadn't heard a word from them, and she feared for the worst. That the witches had done something for Sam and that Klaus and Kol had gone into a rage. As her body still didn't get its temperature under control, she dressed in several layers of clothing that she had previously found in one of the closets - she suspected it was Stefan's. The moment she set foot outside, the vampires came running back to the boarding house, laughing. Covered in blood, but in a much better mood than when they had left.

"Where the hell have you been?" Bella demanded as she closed the door again and walked after them. Like bees to honey, they had found the new supply of alcohol that she had brought back. It felt like a little bit overkill, for them to have fed so much and then going straight to the booze.

"We took care of the Bennett witches," Damon said with an incredulous look on his face as he poured himself a drink. "You told us to, remember?"

"Yeah, but…"

"Oh, but you forget about the part that it wasn't just one or two witches," Klaus smirked. "Go on, tell her the good part."

"We had fun chasing at least twenty witches around," Kol grinned as he flopped onto the couch in his bloodied clothes. "We drained a few as we started off, then it was a matter of chasing them around and catching them."

"Their spells hurt like a bitch though," Damon said with a smirk on his lips. "It was awesome."

"I'd forgotten how good it feels to actually kill for a good reason," Kol smiled widely at Bella and then cocked his head. "Why are you dressed up like an Eskimo?"

"I was going to look for you! You had me worried sick when you didn't come home last night!"

"Aw, that's cute," Damon said mockingly and made his way over to Bella to unwrap her. "Using Stefan's clothes too."

"Hands off," she bit at him and punched him in his chest before regretting doing so. Within a blink, Kol was at her side, shoved Damon away from her by force and then started to inspect her hand for damage. "Hey! You didn't need to do that."

"Stop mothering me, Cuddles," Kol said after making sure she still had full use of her hand. "Stop mothering us, we've been doing fine before you came back and we will be okay while you're here."

Sam huffed. "This is the calmest I've seen you boys be in years."

"I didn't ask for your opinion," he shot at Sam and then looked at his brother who snarled in return.

"Oh for the love of everything," Bella said as she started to unwrap herself from the clothes she had put on and looked at the siblings. "Play nice. You've had your fun with the witches, now play nice, I'm going to cook us some dinner that will agree with me." She walked off to the spacious kitchen and started to look for pots and pans. When she looked up, she saw that both Kol and Klaus, accompanied by Sam, were sitting on chairs, watching her. "What?"

"Forgive us, love," Klaus smiled at her. "But Kol and I have missed watching you cook and this will be Sameen's first time."

"It's me, merely preparing a meal."

"Exactly, Cuddles. Please do."

Huffing, she opened the fridge and got the ingredients out to start prepping. "Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to find proper food, not the engineered kind or powder form?"

"Very hard," Sam replied evenly as she watched the girl use her knife with finesse and precision as she chopped the vegetables. "150 years ago we had a massive food shortage after some idiot accidentally released a disease that targeted most crops. There wasn't a cure for it, and the wind took it across the world. They had to resort to other means to get food for the humans and engineered it. Like the uhm… 3-D printer that started to pop up in 2013."

"How is that healthy?"

"They add the vitamins to it, all the food has become more nutritious and healthy than it used to be."

"Yeah, but it's artificial. Please tell me that there are more people out there trying to grow their own crops?"

"There are," Sam replied simply with a shrug of her shoulder. "You'd call these people hipsters or hippies. They're all for being 100 percent organic, no technological body enhancements or implants or whatever."

Bella shuddered as she had thought of the person she bought the vegetables from. He was definitely not a hipster, more a homeless person trying to get more money from his homegrown crops. Having found a colander, she put her already cut vegetables in it to make room for more on the chopping board. She was going to rinse the greens well.

"Unbelievable," Klaus said in awe as he reclined on his chair while he kept watching Bella. "It's like Kol all over again. I see a different body, but what it's protecting is clearly our girl, look at the way she uses that knife. It's identical."

"Oh good," Kol replied as he looked at his brother. "Because if that hadn't been Bella, she'd have been the biggest imposter ever, and she'd have fooled us for days."

"I'm just saying, brother."

Bella looked up from her work and sighed. "Could you three please change into something that hasn't been covered by blood?"

"Will you stop cutting vegetables while we do? I want to watch the whole process," Kol replied as he rose to his feet, eager to oblige. "I want to smell everything."

She put down the knife and took a step back with her hands raised. "Go ahead." She watched Kol and Klaus run off as if they were little children on drugs, leaving a stunned Sam. "It's just a phase," she said with a shrug.

"No, I don't think it is," Sam replied eventually. "You're bringing back a sense of normalcy in their lives, reminding them, and me, what it's like to be human." She then nodded like she agreed with herself before walking out of the kitchen to get changed. "Change is good."

When they returned, Bella had poured them a glass of wine and had turned on the oven. Not that she was going to need it, but it felt good. This old house certainly could do with some better insulation, even the compound in New Orleans was always warm in the winters. "So, how many vampires do you have in your army, Klaus?" she asked as she resumed her prep work for their meal tonight.

"Enough, why?"

"Oh, get this, Cuddles, he even has some relatives in his army."

"We were not going to tell her that," Klaus hissed at his brother. It was bad enough that he knew, although Kol didn't seem to particularly care, but Bella, on the other hand, she would be furious. He managed to catch the knife that Bella had thrown at him and looked at her. "I swear, I did not turn them all."

She grabbed another knife from the drawer. "Tell me what you did."

"Well, I turned KJ when he was 20," he said casually. "He was the last you experienced the birth of and I thought it'd be nice to have him around as a reminder. Luckily, despite his dumb actions that echo his father's stupidity, he's still alive."

She remembered KJ. Kol Jasper Mikaelson, son of her great great grandchild, a descendant of her daughter Nina. "Didn't Becky and Joel move away after his birth like most of them had?"

"Of course," Klaus replied. "They moved to Los Angeles, but at some point KJ was curious to his roots and came to New Orleans, and I showed him his heritage. Then, of course, was his brother Chuck, who was dying of cancer, and Rebekah happened to be in Los Angeles working as a nurse. Chuck didn't make it for very long; he had a good ten years though."

Sighing, she turned her back and started to rinse the vegetables. She knew she shouldn't be angry with Klaus for doing what he did best; annoying people, hurting them. This was the reason she was glad that most of her children moved away from New Orleans. Not that she didn't want them to stick around for Klaus, but because eventually, he'd destroy the entire family.

"Oh, and the only surviving line is the one of your first born. As you know, Sophia was in a car accident with her small children while on holiday in the mountains and your son Oliver was gay. It took me a while to track down Eliana's descendants, but I got them all eventually."

"You're lucky I was dead."

"Of course, I would never do anything to hurt you while you were still alive, but I could not have that many of your descendants walk the earth with the power they had. It would have been catastrophic. The example would be the Bennett witches who are currently taking over New Orleans. Over the years, they've kept growing in numbers."

She nodded slowly. She understood his reasons, but that didn't mean she had to be happy about it. At least her children had had a great life, and she had loved watching them grow up and get children of their own.

"Then there's Duke. Angry little fellow," Klaus mused as he leaned back in his chair. "Even stronger as a vampire."

"In all fairness, I killed Duke a hundred years later," Sam remarked sharply. "He wanted to go after James."

"Yeah and you should have let him. Because if you had, we wouldn't be in the mess of not being able to enter New Orleans," Klaus grumbled and crossed his hands over his chest.

"Sonny had my blood in his system when Damon killed him."

"What? Damon?" For some reason, the knowledge of knowing that someone other than a Mikaelson killing her family made her blood boil.

"You rang?" Damon smirked as he leaned against the doorpost.

Bella opened the drawer of knives, and they shot out towards Damon, some hitting him right in the chest but missing his heart, others hitting the wall or simply the ground. "Damnit. My aim used to be better than that."

"Ow!" Damon whined as he started to pull out the knives. "Why did you do that for?"

"Sonny," Klaus grinned.

"I'm a vampire, I kill people, that's what I do! Besides, he's so far removed from you that you shouldn't even care, Bella."

She lifted the knives off the floor again and threw them at him again.

Damon growled as he angrily got the other knives out of him as his blood dripped on the ground. "I made another one a vampire when he came to visit us in Mystic Falls."

"You'd better stop talking if you want to keep on breathing," Kol said as he looked at Damon with a smile on his face. "Once she's out for blood, she will get it."

Once Damon had pulled all the knives out of his body, she shot them at him again. "Stop, please," Damon groaned as he leaned against the wall to steady himself and pleadingly looked at Bella. "I'm sorry, okay? But the best way to annoy Klaus is to go after his family."

"My family," Bella said angrily. "You went after my family."

"You were dead, you didn't know," He huffed as he rolled his eyes at her. "I didn't do anything that would affect you, you know," he groaned again when he started to pull knives out of himself again. "Did you have your revenge? Can you stop?"

"Oh shut up."

"You should be glad that she doesn't pin you to the wall and keep using you for target practice," Kol grinned as he took a sip of his wine. "She's a lot like our sister in that way."

"But it wasn't something I did to her, was it?" Damon spat, throwing the last knife on the ground and stomped off to clean himself up and get drunk. Bella had always been a little crazy, but this was not amusing.

"There's one called Xander. At least ten generations removed from you. He's still around. Rebekah took pity on Elijah Kol, Xander's nephew, because the poor sod was ill. You see, Rebekah had a habit of coming back to town for a couple of weeks before disappearing again."

"Her visits became more scarce after Marcel got killed during one of the first attempts of the Bennett witches trying to establish a foothold in New Orleans," Sam added. "But when she did come, and could mean something to the family, she'd help out. Such as turning someone into a vampire - if they wanted to."

"Marcel's dead?" Bella asked with a big smile on her face. She had never liked him because he had a thing against Kol, amongst other things, and to hear of his death was simply music to her ears. She set a pot of water on the stove and used her magic to get the water boiling so she could add pasta to it before resuming making dinner.

"Well, you don't have to act all happy about it!" Klaus said with a pout. "He might have been somewhat conniving, but he eventually learned what loyalty was." He then looked at her and cocked his head. "Why do you want to know about the size of my army?"

"Because you're going to need one if you want to take back what's yours," she simply stated before starting to brown the spiced minced meat. "I'm going to drop the barrier when I find out what spell they used for it and then you and your army can rush back in and secure the compound, your home."

"How?"

She huffed. "We'll take the train right to the last stop before New Orleans where we get off. I drop the barrier, and you use the train to get into the city, that way, you don't have to run across town and risk losing more of your vampires."

"You make it sound so easy."

"Because it is. I'm going to drop the barrier, and you're going to take back what's yours. That's step one of getting your city back. I'll put up protection spells around the compound when you've got it back, of course."

"When?"

Bella shrugged. "I was thinking to venture into New Orleans by myself tomorrow, talk to the witches who brought me back and see if they know anything. I'm pretty sure they've lifted the spell that allowed Sam to get in."

"You're not going by yourself," Kol said, shaking his head. "Absolutely not."

"Why not? You can't come with me, remember? And I'll be okay. I'll be careful."

"How about we break the spell that keeps us out and then you can go to your witches?" Klaus offered, earning him a slap on the head from Sam. "What?"

"You know as well as I do that she needs to know what spell it is, and then figure a way around it because she didn't cast it."

Bella smiled at that as she tossed the pasta in the boiling water and added the vegetables to the meat in the pan. "I'll be fine, I promise."

"I still don't like it," Klaus and Kol chorused and at the same time took a sip of their wine. "You've only gotten your strength back and-" Kol added but was interrupted by Bella.

"Okay, fine." She shrugged. "How long do you want to wait? A week? A month? A year? I mean, you could either be back in New Orleans before the week is over or not. It's fine to me. Whatever you want. But you know, I'd rather have it sooner or later so that Kol and I can spend some proper time on our own without everyone else listening in. Or you know, me having to be one step ahead of you to make sure you don't end up killing me by accident. So whatever you want. I just want to go home."


	4. Into The Fire

**[Waikiki Beach, Oahu, Hawaii. December 25th, 2017. 11:30 am.]**

He was caught in a tourist trap, but he didn't mind. After how she responded to him in Romania when it was all snowy and cold and beautiful, he didn't mind going somewhere warm for the winter; anywhere but New Orleans, to be honest. When they had returned from Romania, Klaus found ways for them to use their witch powers for his personal gain, so after a month, they upped and left to visit Reneé, Bella's mother. And then Charlie before returning to Europe.

Bella had fallen ill somewhere in September when they were somewhere in France. He had planned for her to spend her birthday in Paris again, but this time without the bungee jumping - and she'd been in the hospital for a week before she was released. He felt like he owed her to go somewhere unique and uplifting and had taken her to Hawaii, and she had loved it. They had spent some time on the Big Island and on Maui, and now they were in an even bigger tourist trap. But that was fine. His Bella was smiling and enjoying the sunshine and the beach, and he loved seeing her in her bikini.

"So, remember I got sick a few months ago?" Bella asked as they were lying on the beach, soaking up the sun. She had curled herself up against him as they were lying underneath a big umbrella. They didn't do Christmas presents, they agreed. Mostly because they wanted to travel light, but also because every day was a gift and an adventure. It was an incredibly cheesy pact they had made, but it was theirs, and it worked.

"Don't remind me, that was terrible because you wanted conventional medicine to get you through it," Kol sighed as he ran a finger over her back. "While if you had Klaus or Rebekah overnight a vial of their blood, you would have been healed immediately. You're so human sometimes."

She snorted as she hit him on his chest. "And you need to stop wanting to use magic for everything, it's not a solution to all of the problems."

"Oh, it so is."

"Anyway," she said after a moment of silence. "In our excitement we forgot one important thing since I got sick…"

"Which is?"

"Well, since we're traveling a lot, I stepped off getting my Depo shot on a regular basis and switched to pills…" She said slowly, looking up at him to see if he knew what was going on, but then again, he probably didn't have a clue. "They don't work when you vomit all the time."

"Okay?"

"I should have made you wear a condom."

"Huh?"

"Seriously, are you deliberately being stupid right now?" She sat up to look at him, seeing the confused look on his face. "I knew you were ancient, but seriously?"

"What?"

Bella sighed as she turned around to get something out of her bag and put it on his chest for him to look at.

"What's that?"

"That's one of five pregnancy tests I took."

"Oh, okay," he said, picking it up and looking at it. "I don't know what I'm supposed to see. Are you saying you're pregnant?"

"No," she shook her head angrily. "I'm definitely not saying I'm pregnant. I'm saying that we're having a baby. WE. Not me. _We_."

"This isn't funny, Cuddles."

"Do I look like I'm joking?" She got to her feet and dusted herself off. "Merry Christmas, asshole," she said before walking off. Bella was fuming, how could he think she was joking about this? She would never joke about being pregnant because that was stupid and mean. Very mean. She wouldn't like it to happen to her, so why would she do that for him?

As she walked back to the hotel, she decided to call Rebekah for advice. Or to rant against, because she wouldn't want to be a bother to Elijah and Klaus wouldn't even know what to say. The hybrid would simply let her ramble on and on without there being a solution.

" _Bella! How wonderful of you to call, are you having fun?"_

"Hey Rebekah, Merry Christmas to you."

" _You should see the tree that Nik had put up. It's enormous. We got you presents, but I know you two aren't coming back for a long time. But it's the thought, isn't it?"_ Rebekah sounded slightly disappointed. " _It's so quiet around here without you two around."_

"Well, you could come to Hawaii? The weather is absolutely fantastic, I'm walking around in my bikini and shorts for most of the time, and it's just gorgeous here."

" _You know, I think I just might after New Year."_

"Great!" Bella decided not to go back to the hotel but to get something to drink from one of the concession stands. "I have a question."

" _Oh dear, you sound serious."_

"Because it sort is, and I was serious with Kol about it and he thinks it's a joke," Bella huffed. She sat down to enjoy her drink, or at least make an attempt to do so as she could feel tears sting behind her eyes. "It's not fair. Why are men so stupid?"

" _Because they're men, darling. Are you alright?"_

"Yeah," she said softly as she rubbed her eyes. She was not going to cry over this. Kol was Kol, and she should have handled it differently. "I should have conveyed the message a different way, I suppose."

" _You're having me worried now, Bella. Are you ill again?"_

Huffing again, she took a sip of her drink before she spoke again. "No, if only it were that easy."

It was quiet on the other end of the phone for quite a while before Rebekah excitedly gasped. " _Are you pregnant?"_

"Five pee sticks and a missed period or two say that Kol and I are going to have a baby, yes."

Because of the deafening scream of joy on the other end of the phone, she put the phone on speaker and the table until it had finished. " _I'm definitely coming over. Tomorrow. I'll be there tomorrow, and then we're going to find you an obstetrician to confirm, how's that?"_

Bella let out a sigh of relief and nodded, temporarily forgetting that Rebekah couldn't actually see her. "That would be great, thanks, Rebekah."

" _And tell Kol again. He'll get the message eventually. He's simply dimwitted. He'll be happy. I'm happy. I'm going to be an Auntie!"_

 **[Espoo, Finland. July 7th, 2018. 1:32 am.]**

While they were traveling through Scandinavia, they had met the loveliest witch at Suomenlinna, a sea fortress in Helsinki that was supposedly haunted. Paula Grimm was on a tour with some of her coven members as some 'sister's day out' and accidentally overheard Bella and Kol have a discussion about her giving birth. Bella had been putting her foot down on going to the hospital for the birth of their child. Kol kept insisting that it was a bad idea in case there'd be a magical occurrence while she birthed their daughter.

Paula introduced herself as firstly, a midwife. Secondly, a druid in a coven that sounded a lot like the coven Bella and Kol had encountered in The Netherlands, but at least Paula dressed normally and had an actual job. Always willing to help out other magical beings, she offered that they'd come to her home for the birth where she'd be able to ensure a safe delivery.

So here they were, a week later, in Paula's home. Bella was pacing around like a caged animal as she was trying to walk off the pain in between contractions. Kol had offered to take some of her pain away, but as always, she refused.

"Stop being so bullheaded!" Kol remarked from his spot on the couch, his eyes never leaving her as she kept walking around. "I can't stand seeing you in pain."

"You should have thought about that when we both decided to keep this baby, Kol," she shot at him as she rubbed her lower back. "I'm afraid that if you do take the pain away, I can't feel if something goes wrong or something."

"Don't be ridiculous."

"Please stop irritating the soon to be mother," Paula spoke gently as she looked at Kol. "Allow her to do this the way she wants it to go."

He let out a huff. "If I'd do that, we'd be in the car right now to the nearest hospital."

"Okay, apart from that then. Be supportive. Offer to massage her feet or back."

"Bella, would you like…"

"Don't touch me," she said as she swatted his hands away as she sank back onto the couch before putting her head on his shoulder and sighed. "Could you rub my back?"

 **[Espoo, Finland. July 7th, 2018. 4:13 am.]**

"I know you are tired, Bella, but you need to keep pushing when you feel the need for it," Paula spoke gently as she reassuringly caressed her leg. Bella had been pushing for about two hours now, and she looked exhausted. "It is critical that you find the strength to keep pushing."

Kol used a wet cloth to wipe Bella's forehead, trying to cool her down some before the next contraction came. It was difficult to stay an active participant in this, helpful, as the experience was fascinating to him. She was going to push a baby out of a tiny hole. His baby. Their baby. He already knew that the human body was able to tolerate a lot of pain and discomfort, but his Bella was Superwoman. She was doing so well. "I'm so proud of you," he said as he helped her sit up again when the next contraction washed over her.

"Shut up," she groaned as she tried to push as hard as she could.

"I'm serious, Cuddles," he said encouragingly. "I couldn't do what you're doing right now."

"No, your cock has not enough space to do this shit," she cried out as she pushed again.

"Marry me."

She waited until the contraction had passed for a moment before realizing what he had said. "What?"

"Please, marry me."

She blinked up at him; he had a serious look on his face and this time, he seemed to mean it. She had waited for this. Bella had waited for him to find the right reasons within himself to marry her and now that moment had come but at the worst possible timing. Sitting up again because the next contraction already came, she took a deep breath. "I'm pooping out our child and you think now is the time to ask me again?" she blurted out.

"Yes."

"You asshole!" she cried out as she felt how their daughter's head finally popped out of her. She fell back on the bed, breathing heavily and trying to find the rest of her strength for the final push or two.

"Well?"

"Well, what?"

"Will you marry me, Isabella Marie Swan?"

 **[Accessing current feeds]**

 **[Marcel's old apartment across the river, Algiers, New Orleans. January 20th, 2311. 2:14 pm.]**

Bella knocked on the door before sliding it open, finding a dozen or so young witches stare at her with their mouths open. "Close those mouths before you catch something," she remarked as she slid the door closed behind her.

"You've returned!" If Bella remembered correctly, that was Vanja, first born daughter of the current regent. Older sister of the body Bella was inhabiting. The brunette jumped up from her chair to warmly greet Bella, but she took a step back to make sure there was a distance between them. She was not Daisy.

It had been strange to be back in New Orleans. She hadn't paid much attention to it when Sam took her to the train to get to Mystic Falls, but on her way over she had taken a good look around, and it had changed. The atmosphere had changed. What used to feel like home had now turned into feeling cold and emotionless, yet also overflowing with energy and not the right kind. Bella realized that a lot needed to be done for it to feel like home again. "Are you all Mikaelson witches?"

"Yeah, apart from Mandy. She's a Claire," Vanja responded, making another attempt of hugging Bella, who took another step back towards the door.

"If you insist on keep on trying to hug me, you will keep on being disappointed. I am not your sister," she said coolly before walking around Vanja and had herself introduced to the teenagers present. They were all from her line, cousins from each other and in Mandy's case, a distant relative. "Where are the adults?"

"I am an adult," Vanja said hurt. "So is Malin and Derek."

Bella hummed as she walked towards the window to look out over the city. So much had changed, it hurt to realize that a lot had changed and even though progress was good, it felt as if the shifted balance had set everything back.

"Are you here to help us, Mrs. Mikaelson?" Mandy asked as she stood next to Bella. Bella liked the girl's energy; it felt a lot better than the energy coming off of her descendants. She seemed to be a bright cookie and not afraid to step on people's toes.

"I will help," Bella smiled sweetly at Mandy before turning around to the other witches. "But first, I'm going to need your help."

When they didn't show any respect by unanimously huffing, Bella realized why they had chosen Daisy's body for her. Daisy obviously didn't look like much, and she had probably been teased relentlessly for looking like she was twelve.

Bella had grown accustomed to being respected as a witch ever since she and Kol permanently returned from their travels with their two children and becoming co-regents for the witches. She thought that these girls would have extended that respect towards her since they had resurrected her, but clearly they needed some education.

Bella flicked her hand, sending the group flying across the apartment before she crossed her arms over her chest and quietly looked at them. She was Bella freaking Mikaelson; she was the reason they even existed, what the hell was going on? Something was off.

"We don't have time to help you. You need to help us, and then we'll see if we can help you," Vanja said as she got up from the floor and rubbed her ass. "We brought you back for a reason and you're going to do as we say."

"I think not," Bella huffed.

"Forget it, Vanja. Mandy was wrong, as always. We'll find a different way to deal with our coven."

"Derek, was it?" Bella said as she walked up towards the boy and helped him up from the floor. She found it amusing that Mandy was following her like an eager puppy. Yep, she really liked Mandy. "Would you care to inform me about when you kids learned not to respect your elders?"

"We don't need to respect you, we raised you from the dead to help us, you're going to help us."

"You have to forgive them, Mrs. Mikaelson," Mandy said as she eyed her coven, clearly fearing for their lives. "They have been through a lot, and their parents haven't always given the best examples. They don't understand that kindness goes a long way."

Bella resisted the urge to pet the young witch on her head and tell her that she was a good little puppy. Instead, she kept focused on the Mikaelson witches. "You've given me new life; this does not mean that I am your puppet or yours to be controlled. I'm quite agreeable to have around, but thinking me as of your property is not done, have I made myself clear?"

The impish looks on the faces before her made her blood boil. Idiots. "I am Bella Mikaelson, former regent of the New Orleans witches and your ancestor, treat me like any less and I will certainly not cooperate, how's that? Do you understand now?" Yeah, she had the right to demand respect like an Original. Definitely. When all heads nodded, she motioned for everyone to sit down again and joined them in their circle. "I'd like to see the documentation you have on the spell cast around New Orleans that keeps the vampires out."

"Why?" Malin asked as the blood drained from her face. "Our problems don't concern the vampires."

"In a way, they do," Bella said kindly. "New Orleans is a crucial city as for centuries the supernatural community has been in perfect balance with the human population. Neither faction held too much power, too much control even if they all fought about it. This is silly, I know. But without that balance, the power shifts. Who are in control now? The werewolves and those Bennett witches, yes? How many humans get killed on a daily basis and how many wolves are being born every year?"

"Too many."

"The vampires are predators, a necessary evil if you like. Their hunting kept the werewolf and witch population under control, and thus the balance in New Orleans. By doing so, they made it the perfect city for tourists to come and revel, to eat Po-boys in the street listening to Jazz music, stroll around feeling safe and warm in the arms of the city."

"But…"

"In just fifty years after your great-grandfather kicked out the vampires, the balance shifted like a snap of the fingers. The Bennett witches moved in, they left their home of Mystic Falls and moved in to work with the werewolves. I've been told that werewolves from all over are now in the city, not just the Crescent wolves. The Bennett's took away your home and your sanctuary. This would not have happened if James hadn't cast that spell."

"You want to bring the vampires back to New Orleans? How does that solve our problem?"

"It won't directly solve your problem, but it's the first step in the right direction."

"I knew this was a bad idea," Kol, son of Ulf, said as he got to his feet and started to pace around. "She's in league with the vampires; she's not on our side. The whole story about balance is bull. We need to simply drive out all the foreign elements and then everything will return to normal. Her power was supposed to help us with that."

"So that's what you're interested in? Power?" Bella looked around the circle and almost every one of them nodded. "Why? Your line is incredibly powerful already, what do you need with more power?"

"We need to stop the regent from going on with the Harvest," Malin said quietly. "We don't have the juice to stop her."

"You do. Every single one of you has the power, especially if you work together. What is it with you guys? Have you gotten lazy?" She now noticed the clear absence of Grimoires and books. "Where are your books?"

"The moment the technology was there, they started to use it, it was easier," Mandy explained. "Back in your day you probably had people who were anti-technology or anti-vaxxers, these days we have anti-chippers. You see, a family can choose whether or not they want a chip implanted in themselves, and their offspring, that contains all they need to know. My family thinks it's a form of mind control, to keep the population in check and from rioting. Sometimes we think it even prevents them from creating an original thought because they won't read real books."

"That's a bit overdramatic," Vanja huffed and Malin concurred. "This saves us time to do other things."

"Like what?" Mandy shot at her cousin. "Seriously, what do you do with your time? You do your spells, your rituals, but don't learn anything new, how is that not lazy?"

"Now, don't fight," Bella said soothingly and looked at Mandy. "Did Daisy have the implant?"

Mandy nodded. "But I smuggled in a tiny EM-pulse generator to shut it off for you. It's impossible to turn it back on. I didn't want your mind to be affected by their laziness and contain your knowledge and memories."

"And that's where you went wrong," Derek grumbled. "If you hadn't, she would have helped us without having her own agenda."

"They were afraid to resurrect you," Mandy said, ignoring Derek. "There must have been a reason you've been excluded from the Mikaelson history in their updates. They knew about Kol and know that they should fear him, but there was barely a word about you."

Bella nodded. This she could understand. She had overheard Klaus and Sameen talk that evening when she was trying to get warm in front of the fire, even though she was talking to Kol. He had arranged it so that she wouldn't be on those chips to protect her. "But you know."

Mandy smiled widely and nodded. "I snuck into the Lycée to grab a few old books. I know you don't mean any harm unless you're threatened. They just fear you, unsure of what you'd do without any means of control. I would never have suggested they should resurrect you if I thought you were malevolent."

She understood a lot better now and sighed. She had never experienced this side of the coin, and it didn't feel all too good to be on that side either. Bella was still missing something, but she was certain she was going to find out soon. "I take it that James didn't keep written records?"

"Sadly no," Mandy shook her head.

Bella smirked as she conjured up notebooks and pens and handed it to the Mikaelson witches. "Start writing."

While the witches wrote, Bella decided to take Mandy outside for a walk in the safe zone and grab a bite to eat. Mandy was able to tell her more about the history of New Orleans and how bad the situation was with the witches. Bella realized that it hadn't been a recent problem. Even long before the vampires were rudely evicted from the city, the witches had started to become complacent, thinking that everything was going to be alright simply because they carried the Mikaelson name.

She understood Klaus a little better now too, with him killing so many of her descendants, and now she was wondering if it had been a good idea, at all, to have children with Kol. She felt indirectly responsible for the mess, but she wondered if it was better to take a step back; surely the only thing remaining of her and Kol's family was a diluted bloodline and the name. Which, technically, wasn't even theirs to have.

With a cloaking spell, she dared Mandy to cross the river with her to the cemetery where Bella wanted, no, needed, to retrieve something from the tomb that only she or Kol could open. It had been his old hang out, and they had spelled it shut from everyone else ever entering. There were so many things in there that could do so much harm they didn't want to see inflicted upon New Orleans. But she also stored their most valuable treasures in there, and she needed to pick up just one item. A small box.

It didn't come as a shock to her to see that some of the tombs and graves had been destroyed. Likely by the unwelcome witches and that they even made an attempt of cracking open the vault. Having Mandy as the invisible lookout, she got into the tomb and found the box she had been looking for with ease, the layout of the room still in her blood, still familiar. "Don't worry," she whispered as she caressed the wall as she shut it again. "We'll see you soon. The both of us will."

"That was brilliant!" Mandy squealed once they were back in relative safety across the river and walked up the stairs to the apartment. "I was so afraid they'd sense the magic and would come running."

"Perhaps they did, but it's called a cloaking spell for a reason. I made sure it scattered the magic so they couldn't pinpoint where it came from." Sliding open the door, she was satisfied to see that the witches had finished writing and handed her the notebooks. "Thank you. We shall see each other again soon and hopefully by then I will have secured you a haven in the French Quarter."

"Good luck with that," Derek huffed. "It's werewolf central over there."

Bella just smiled as she put the notebooks in her bag and went home.


	5. Deceptions

**[The Abattoir, French Quarter, New Orleans. January 6th, 2020. 5:45 pm]**

Bella hadn't ever experienced Mardi Gras, and Kol was determined to give her the full experience, so she agreed to spend the winter in New Orleans. It wasn't that cold; it was bearable and on some days she didn't even need a coat. On top of that, it felt good to be home again and to be stationary for a couple of months.

She also liked it that Nina, their daughter, was doing so well. She was almost a year and a half old, and she was very easy going. Especially when it came to traveling. She didn't cry on planes and slept mostly through it all. After Nina was born, the entire family came to Helsinki to meet her while Bella recovered, and Klaus actually cried when she and Kol told him that they named their daughter after him.

Now that they were in New Orleans, Klaus was the doting uncle, giving Bella and Kol some time to themselves. Kol had bought them a matching outfits with gold and white and smirked when he saw Bella dressed in the outfit. While he wore pants, he made sure she was in a skirt, and she didn't like it at all, the look on her face said everything.

"I hate you."

"Oh come on, Cuddles, it's fun! We're matching now, and you look gorgeous," he took her hand and kissed it before pulling her out of the room.

"Look, Nina, it's your mum and dad going out on their date," Klaus said as he smiled at the toddler and gently took her arm to wave at her parents. "By the time they come back, you'll be peacefully asleep, but maybe they'll continue the fun in bed, and you could end up with another sibling."

Bella looked at Kol and shook her head. "Please tell me that your brother didn't just say that."

"He did," Kol snorted as Bella let go of his hand and walked to Klaus to give their daughter a cuddle before leaving. "Don't break her, Nik, Bella will break you if you will."

"I have more experience with small children than you have, Kol. Hope's doing fine, isn't she?"

"Uncle Klaus is the best nanny there is," Bella said as she caressed Nina's head.

"I'm not a nanny."

"Yes, you are," Bella grinned as she ruffled Klaus' hair. "But seriously, drop her and I will kill you."

Nina giggled. "Unun trouble." Unun was the name she had started to use for Klaus, and Klaus had found it the most endearing thing in the whole wide world.

"Go on your date, mum," Klaus said as he turned Nina away from her. "We'll be fine."

Bella let out a slight whine when Kol started to gently pull her away from Klaus and the baby and headed outside. The streets were filled with celebrating people. Kol expertly guided her through the traffic on St. Phillip Street to join similarly dressed revelers to wait for the parade at the end of the street at the Joan of Arc Monument.

"Today marks the first day of the carnival season which leads all the way up to Mardi Gras on February 25th," Kol said as he handed her a glass of wine. "So for the next couple of weeks, there will be a lot of parades through New Orleans, more parties, balls, and general celebration organized by various krewes or factions in the city. As Niklaus insisted on celebrating our marriage from the day we wed to the day of Mardi Gras, I'm quite confident he'll arrange a formal ball of some sort or has Rebekah do it."

Bella groaned upon hearing the words again. 'Celebrate' and 'marriage.' Yes, she had agreed to marry Kol. There was no doubt that she wanted to marry him because she loved him and wouldn't want to miss his company. When she and Kol talked to Klaus about it, Klaus' smile grew wider and wider and for a moment Bella had thought the man had turned into the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland.

Klaus thought he had a great idea. No, not great, a brilliant idea. The wedding itself was going to be on the date that Kol and Bella had picked out for its quirkiness, February 20th, 2020, and the days following would be a celebration of their union. Bella didn't like the idea very much, mostly because Klaus made it clear that those days leading up to Mardi Gras would be all about her and Kol. But, once it was clear that Klaus' enthusiasm was genuine, she decided to let it happen to make him happy.

Klaus had various reasons for his idea. One being that the Mikaelson family used to throw balls all the time and the last time they did that was when they were in Mystic Falls, after reuniting with their mother many years ago. The second one being that the Original family were royalty, or at least treated as such because they were the Original vampires. Bella was going to marry a nobleman, and his union needed to be celebrated. Another one being that Bella herself was royalty; witch royalty for that matter and the union of two very powerful witches needed to be honored.

The more he came up with reasons, the more Bella was willing to just let him have those days and play along. Klaus, Elijah, Rebekah and even Kol, had lived for so many years that if a small thing as getting married got them excited, she'd let them have it. On top of that, it meant that she could have her parents in town for a week, and she'd love for them to spend some time with their granddaughter. But she couldn't remember if she'd ever told them about Nina. She was going to be in so much trouble!

"Today, also marks the birth of Joan of Arc and that's why we're at the monument while we wait for the parade in her honor to come and pay their respects."

"That's so cool," she smiled up at him.

"And in the meantime, we listen to some good music, dance a little, drink… have fun," he said as he kissed her tenderly. "Kiss and maybe have sex in an alley…"

"Oh, no to the sex in an alley."

Kol eyed her curiously. "I thought you'd say 'no' to the dancing."

"Well, if I'd say no to the dancing, we'd definitely have slunk off to the nearest alley and had sex like we usually do when we're in a crowd of people, drinking and having fun," she said as-a-matter-of-factly. "But we're home now. What if we get caught?"

"The more, the merrier," Kol grinned, earning him getting elbowed in the chest.

 **[City of the Dead, LaFayette Cemetery 1, New Orleans. January 12th, 2020. 1:30 pm]**

Davina had been a regent to the witches of New Orleans for almost eight years, and it took Bella and Kol that long to hear Klaus complain about how the young girl was handling things. Klaus ranted on about how the witches should never have agreed to have such a young regent, especially Davina, as, according to him, she was power hungry.

She had put up several barriers all over New Orleans to keep the vampires from entering buildings, the most important ones being the brothels and Klaus thought that was utterly indecent of her. His vampires loved visiting a brothel to let some steam off and snack a little without harming the woman they choose to spend their time with and he didn't like his vampires being antsy. Davina didn't like Klaus much so she didn't talk to him, and he had sent Marcel over to keep an eye on her.

Kol remarked that it looked like Klaus had everything under control, but when Klaus gave him the stinkeye, he shrugged and offered that he and Bella would take a look to see what's going on. Maybe even have Davina meet Nina, and Klaus wasn't too happy about that. "What if the witch decides to kill her?" That reaction caused Bella to strap herself into the back harness, bundle up the toddler and had Kol help her strap the toddler in. All the while as Bella looked at Klaus, daring him to take away her baby from her.

It was slightly cold when they left the compound and Bella was glad that she had bundled Nina up. She and Kol didn't really had a use for a stroller as they had been traveling all the time with the baby after a month of rest after her birth. A stroller didn't really fit into the category of 'light travel'. Klaus had bought them one for usage in New Orleans, but Bella didn't like it. Nina was too far away from her or Kol, and it didn't really feel safe.

Once Nina was going to be able to walk for longer stretches, they were going to allow her to walk a bit more. But for now, their little princess could watch the world from a height and learn more. "What's that, Nina?" Bella pointed at one of the horses of the horse-drawn carriage that passed them on the way to the cemetery. The toddler responded by mimicking a horse's whinny, and it was the cutest thing ever.

"No matter what everyone else says," Kol laughed as he looked at his daughter blowing bubbles with her mouth. "She's the cutest."

"Ah, well, you know what they say, beware of the nice ones."

"I thought that was the silent ones?"

"Both," she smiled at him and started to jump a little, causing Nina to laugh out loud. "Isn't that right, Nina?"

"Yeah!" the toddler kept laughing as Bella kept hopping from time to time on their way to the cemetery. On their way, Nina was happily talking to herself as she looked around.

"To be honest, I think Nik is overreacting. If he wants his vampires to be able to visit a brothel, why not start one himself?" Kol said with a shrug as they turned a corner. "I'm sure there are plenty of girls he could compel to work for him."

"Uhuh. Easy like that."

Kol was quiet for a moment as he thought about the situation and shrugged. "Then again, if he doesn't want to face your wrath, Davina has to put those barriers down."

"We're just going to check up on her, nothing more. Maybe ask for one accessible brothel to start with, Klaus' vampires do need a place to let off steam if she doesn't want any trouble," Bella said as she looked at Kol. "Surely she didn't let all that power go to her head?"

He sucked in a breath before sighing. "I don't know, Cuddles. She did have a tendency for that, a hunger for more power. She might be even willing to take down Nik for being the asshole that he is, but he's used to having witchy problems by now."

Bella slowly nodded. She had seen that look on Davina's face when she ascended to Regent, both she and Kol were present to watch it happen. Davina has made a promise that the witches were eventually going to rule New Orleans and stand against the vampires, but it was much better to keep the peace between all factions. It was going so well, and if Davina decided to go to war, she'd be the cause of many casualties.

"She has a lot to be angry about. The harvest, for one, Nik killing her once… Marcel's loyalty towards my brother… the death of several of her coven members, her friends…"

"I know."

"Since we'll be heading towards the City of the Dead, I want to put a spell on her ancestor's crypt that you and I have been using and Davina's able to walk in freely. Surely the both of us are strong enough to remove the original spell and, or, cast a better spell that suits our needs."

She nodded as there were simply too many powerful objects hidden in that crypt and if Davina was truly on a power trip, she could use it all to her advantage and create a lot of harm. Even Bella was impressed by Kol's collection, but at least she respected its power, respected her own power, never using her powers to the fullest. "I think that's a good idea."

"It might piss her off some, but it's the most secure place there is for my, our, things. Denying her access to it will be a decent thing to do."

"I know," she smiled up at him. "I agree with you, haven't you noticed?"

"Oh," he said sheepishly. "No, I haven't. I thought you and Davina were as thick as thieves."

Bella huffed. "Hardly. I only put up with her because of you and because she's a good witch, she taught me a lot. I don't like her pushiness."

Upon arrival at the cemetery, they immediately headed towards the crypt. "You know, maybe we should build our own crypt. This one is a Claire crypt, don't fancy to be buried here," Kol said as he walked into the building to inspect its contents while Bella stayed outside with Nina. Oddly enough, things looked seemingly untouched since the last time he was in there.

"Yeah, let's not think about that yet, huh?" Bella said as she handed Nina a piece of breadstick for her to munch on - and probably drool all over her hair, but that's what it meant being a mom. Being a walking and talking napkin. "So, did you have a spell in mind?"

They cast the spell, and after Kol was sufficiently happy with their protection of his belongings, they continued to walk towards Davina. She had made her place in a different crypt, as Klaus had told them. Nina was entertaining herself by randomly letting out cries, hearing it sometimes echo back to her, and Bella could feel her excitement in the wobbling that she did.

"Easy," Bella said with a smile in her voice. "Don't break mommy's back."

"Do! Do! Do!" Nina squealed before Kol got her out of her sling and put her down on two feet. "Walk!" She said proudly, grabbing Kol's fingers and followed them on their way to Davina. "Walk, see?"

"We can see you," Bella smiled as she looped her arm through Kol's free one and sighed happily. She hadn't been happy with her unexpected pregnancy at first, but she found that she was a natural at being a mother. Sure, she would make a mistake sometimes, but her and Kol's child was a happy one.

"Kol? Bella? Oh my god!" Davina squealed as she ran to them and moved in for a hug with Kol, but bounced back from an invisible shield, which landed her flat on her ass instead. Nina thought that was hilarious and started to giggle as she moved behind Kol's legs. Davina scowled as she looked up to Bella.

Would Bella have let Davina hug Kol? Sure, why not? But the way she came at him and apparently not minding the toddler, she had to do something. "Use your eyes before you use your impulses, Davina."

"Yeah well, it's nice to see you too," she remarked as she got up, still oblivious to the small child that accompanied her friends. "How long are you in town for?"

"Davina, we've been in New Orleans for nearly two months now," Kol smiled at her as he lifted up Nina.

"Then why didn't you come to see me sooner?" Davina's eyes grew big at the sight of the little girl. "You had a baby? Why didn't you tell me?"

"We did," Bella said as she eyed the young woman. "We sent you a card and we called you, did you forget?"

"Oh, yeah, of course," Davina let out a huff. "I've been just so busy, you know."

"Are you alright, Davina?" Kol handed Nina to Bella and much to Bella's dismay, put an arm around Davina as he started to lead her away from Bella.

Sighing, Bella sat down on the steps and put Nina down on the ground. "Want to play a game while the grown-ups talk?"

"Game!"

Kol and Davina returned after half an hour. Bella's mood had turned sour and even though she had nothing to be angry about, she felt a pang of jealousy. Kol and Davina used to date even if the love they had once had got erased by the ancestors as a punishment, it didn't mean it could flare up again. She hated herself for thinking like this. Kol was hers, they were going to get married. She had nothing to worry about.

"Thanks, Davina," Kol said as he smiled at her. "I'm sure my brother will appreciate the gesture."

Davina huffed. "I'm not doing this for him, you know. I want to keep the people of New Orleans safe, just like you."

Nina wrapped her arms around Bella and hugged her tightly before whispering 'No like' in her ear. Bella smiled instead as she got to her feet and lifted Nina up. "Nina needs a nap, Kol."

"Yeah, we're leaving, Cuddles." He squeezed Davina's arm as he kept that fake smile of his plastered across his face. "We'll be in town for at least another month. If there's anything we can help you with, you'll let us know, yeah?"

"Of course," Davina smiled. "I'm so glad you're staying."

"Until Spring, at least."

"Good," Davina nodded. "Tell Klaus that his vampires are free to go to any of the brothels by tomorrow, I'll be dropping the spells later tonight." She then jumped in excitement as if she remembered something. "We're hosting a ball next week. We're parading through the French Quarter first, doing 'illusions' and then continue our party in one of the plantation houses owned by a leader of one of the covens. You should come. Should be fun."

"We'll think about it, thank you for inviting us." He walked over to Bella and put an arm around her. "See you around, Davina, don't be a stranger," and with that, he started to lead them away from Davina and out of the cemetery.

 **[Accessing current feeds]**

 **[Highway 60. Richmond, VA to Mystic Falls, VA. January 20th, 2311. 6:01 pm.]**

Sam quietly looked over to Bella, who seemed slightly paler than when she left her at the station this morning. She smelled different too, but couldn't quite put her finger on it what was going on. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Bella said, letting out a breath as she looked out of the window. "Slightly tired, I guess. Surprised by everything that has changed, especially the mentality."

"I suppose," she replied as she kept her eyes on the road. Even with the car driving itself, she was still hesitant to completely trust the tech. "But isn't that always? Things gradually change."

"Gradually, yes. For me it's quite the culture shock," Bella let out a small chuckle. "I caught myself demanding their respect in the same way Klaus does when he's in a situation where he feels uncomfortable. It was… trippy."

"How so? The way that I see it, you are allowed to demand respect when people are disrespectful. You're a Mikaelson. Well, married to one. You're the reason those witches even exist. They should respect you."

"Maybe, but that's not me, really. I only did it because they treated me as if I was their property because they resurrected me, that they should have a say in how I'm going to help them."

Sam let out a snort. "Yeah, that never goes well and yet everyone keeps making the same mistake. So, what's in the bag?"

"Everything they know about the spell that was cast over New Orleans to keep you out. All the information was on the chip in their heads, so I had them all write it down while I went running a quick errand with Mandy."

"Is that the one who found you in the hand-written books?" When Bella nodded, Sam smiled. "She seems nice, a bright one."

"And honest. At least with her I didn't get the feeling that she was hiding something from me. The energy coming off my kin, however, was not a pleasant one."

Sam raised her eyebrow at that as she thought of the words Bella had spoken. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to allow her to go back into New Orleans by herself. Surely they could have lured one of those witches out to Mystic Falls instead? "What do you mean?"

"I don't know. I don't know if I completely understand it either. The way that I understood it was that there are two kinds of people, or three or whatever, but, in this case, let's keep it at two. There are the ones who choose to have a chip implanted in their brains with all the information they need and get regular updates if something new comes, so it's readily available…"

"I know. It's like the internet but then in your head and without the social aspect. For a while, Klaus and I thought about getting one ourselves, but it's technology. Things can go so wrong with technology, it's scary. Sure, there's this thing called progress, but technology is fallible. The software can be hacked," Sam sounded as if she was speaking from experience, so Bella let her talk. "When we really need to know something that can't be found in old-fashioned books, we have different means to acquire that knowledge without our brains getting turned into goo."

"Not to mention your long lives, things could change again."

"Exactly."

"Well, apparently, somewhere in the last few generations, the Mikaelsons have lost their brains because they gave into the chip. There is, well, was, a dormant one inside my head. Mandy took care of it with an EM pulse. Her family was smart and kept relying on books."

"Are you sure it's dormant?"

"Don't EM pulses do that to technology?"

"Sure, but that was 300 years ago. Can I ask a friend to make sure? She doesn't even need to see you, she can determine it all on her own."

Bella had shrugged before she nodded in approval. "The thing that bugs me though, is the way the others reacted when Mandy said what she'd done. That if the chip still worked, they would have been able to control me because there's not a lot of time. Now that they can't do that, they're afraid I won't be able to help them in time."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Beats me."

 **[Mystic Falls, VA. Former Salvatore Boarding House. January 20th, 2311. 9:21 pm.]**

Sam had the device in her hand as she watched Kol rejoin them in the living room. Since cellphones were severely out of fashion and video calling was the way to deal with phone calls these days, she carried around a small sized computer for her to communicate with the Machine and the Machine only. "The good news is is that that witch spoke the truth. The chip that's in her skull doesn't work and can't be reactivated."

In the beginning, Kol had been surprised by where Sam and Klaus got their information from, curious. He even tried to figure it out because the information they received from their 'friend' was always accurate, but eventually gave up. Maybe it was best not to know. Some things were better left to be a mystery, and he learned to trust whatever information their friend gave to them.

It saddened him that Bella came back feeling worse for wear, that she wasn't still quite alright. He remembered that he didn't have any problem when he woke in Kaleb's body. Maybe it was because Esther had cast the spell to put him in there instead of a handful of youthful witches who got their spells from quite possibly faulty information inside their heads, and that made him angry. He was going to kill them. Why try pulling off a spell of this magnitude and fail at it?

Scowling, he opened Bella's bag and started to read in the first notebook. He may be a vampire now, but he had been a witch, and his knowledge was still extensive. He could help her with the spell if needed.

"Have you requested her help with keeping an eye on those witches, Sameen?" Klaus asked his mate as he set a glass of bourbon down next to his brother as he seemed to be trying to stop himself from slaughtering people. "Both sides?"

"Of course, and most of the information the Mikaelson witches had given me was correct. The Bennett witches have driven them out of New Orleans, across the river. The Regent is still in the City of the Dead," Sam said as she was reading off her screen. "As for the werewolves… they've taken most of the French Quarter. By our friend's instinct, she thinks that the witches will be next."

"I'm still surprised by the fact that your friend, quite likely a witch, seer, maybe, hasn't gone on a power trip yet," Kol remarked as he flipped through the notebook. He was amazed by how much there was in just this one, details on the spell that was created to keep the vampires out. He grabbed another notebook to compare and see if things were being left out.

"Our friend is…" she wanted to say 'incorruptible' but would that give too much away? "Let's just say that she's proven herself in the past, and I have learned to trust her. Sure, she can make a mistake once or twice, but that rarely happens these days with all of her resources."

"Does she have the chip?"

"No, but she has access to it."

"Hmm," Kol said with a nod, grabbing the next notebook as he sat down on the ground and then decided just to spread them all out. On the surface, it looked as if everything was written the same, but each notebook had tiny details added or missing. This was going to be a headache. He quickly got up and looked for a pen and fresh sheets of paper to start figuring this out. If he could do this for Bella, she'd have a much easier time. "I think we need a bigger army."

"That can be arranged," Klaus smirked as he sat back in his chair. "Anything of use in there?"

"I'm not sure yet, Nik, I've only started looking but if I'm correct, we need a bigger army. Bella needs to drop the spell, and we need to take back our home, if the wolves are that far into the French Quarter, we need a bigger army. Bella can protect our home once we get her there."

"I see snacks in the near future," he replied as he took a sip of his bourbon with an amused smile on his face. This was going to be good, the thrill of a fight was addictive, and this time, Bella was not going to hold them back because they needed the numbers. Oh yes, rebelling sounded quite good right now.


	6. Responsibility

**[The Abattoir, French Quarter, New Orleans. January 21th, 2020. 10:01 am]**

Bella hadn't wanted to go, but Kol insisted that they should go to the witches' ball. To mingle and to network while keeping an eye on Davina. She might have drunk a little too much for her liking to make sure she was not going to do anything stupid while Kol did what he did best, charm the pants off people and gather information.

Whenever a woman became a little too handsy with her soon-to-be husband, Bella gave that person a slight nudge with her gift to make sure she'd stay clear of him. That had been her entertainment and now, the morning after, she regretted having drunk so much.

Bella indulged in a nice, fatty omelet for breakfast with the entire family with extra bacon to soothe her headache a little bit and sighed happily when she felt it starting to have the desired effect on her. Nina was playing with her food, but with new foods on her place for her to try, it wasn't so bad. The girl was brave enough to at least stick it in her mouth before discarding it as food and use it as a toy.

"Have you bought your dress yet?" Rebekah asked as she looked at Bella. "Your wedding is a month away; you honestly need to start arranging more things for it."

"Why? We're having the wedding here in the courtyard."

"Okay, fine, but what are you two going to wear? Kol a tux, of course, but you? What about you? What's the theme of your wedding day? I need to know that at least so I can start on decorations."

Bella looked at Kol, utterly clueless. They hadn't talked about this, really, mostly because living in the moment had ruined their long-term decision making. They liked living like that. The plan was, not to have their wedding all mapped out and come up with it on the fly. But maybe that wasn't a good thing for weddings.

"How about something romantic?" Kol offered with a shrug. "You know, pastels and other things people get to expect at a wedding?" He then winked at Bella, showing her exactly what he had planned. They knew each other so well that she knew that he was up to something and played along.

"That's everything in white and ugly flowers, brother," Rebekah shot at him.

"It's actually not a bad idea," Bella said with a grin. "A conventional wedding."

"You two are far from conventional. You're exceptional."

"Exactly," Kol grinned widely. "Yes, great idea. Fuck with everyone's heads."

Rebekah was quiet for a moment as she observed her brother's and his betrothed faces before grinning widely. If they were going for a conventional wedding, then a traditional wedding they shall have. Old fashioned big dress, the works.

"Over my dead body, sister," Klaus snarled. "They deserve more than that."

"But it's what they want, Nik, and they shall get it."

"No."

Kol just grinned at his siblings while Bella handed Nina a little bit of omelet to try. "No, a conventional wedding, sounds great," he said with a nod. "Go for it, sister."

"Kol," Klaus said furiously. "This is your wedding we're talking about, don't screw it up."

"Well, okay. How about a horse drawn carriage for us to arrive in? We'll get picked up a couple of blocks away from here."

"What's the point in that? You're already here!"

"Exactly." Kol took a sip of his tea and smirked. "On top of that, I suggest Bella and Rebekah go dress shopping today. If she can't find anything suitable, there's still plenty of time to make one."

Or pick a dress Rebekah likes and then do my own thing later, Bella added in thought and nodded. She'd suffer through dress fittings for this.

"But you hate shopping for clothes," Rebekah blinked.

"Like you said, it's my wedding. I'm willing to suffer through dress fittings if it means that I look pretty on my wedding day for my lovely husband. Only for him to rip it off during our first night as husband and wife," Bella said casually and polished off her omelet. "Shall we go? I'm sure that Nina would love some Daddy time."

"Yep! We're going to the zoo, and we're taking Hope with us."

"Moo!" Nina giggled as she munched on the food that her mom had just given to her.

 **[The Abattoir, French Quarter, New Orleans. February 19th, 2020. 2:49 pm]**

The jitters were getting there, Bella had insisted on telling herself that her wedding to Kol was just an ordinary day she could spend with people she loved. When Klaus suggested they'd invite all the figureheads of the supernatural community as well and then added more people to the list, she had started to freak out just a little.

She was glad that her mother and Phil would arrive soon enough; Charlie would come later that day so that she could spend time with her and get her mind off of things. When she thought about it, she hadn't seen her parents in years. Both of her parents. Sure, they had spoken over the internet a few times but other than that, not really.

Come to think of it, had she even mentioned that she had been pregnant? Or given birth?

And wasn't it about time that she told her parents what she was? What their grandchild was? Would be best, considering that the wedding party would consist of mostly supernatural creatures who were used to being out and open. Bella groaned and tried not to think about that for the time being as she decided to get the jitters out of her system.

Turning on the radio in the room she shared with Kol and Nina, she started to dance along to the current song playing. It was a song from the nineties, the Spice Girls, and once she caught Nina's eye, the toddler started to laugh so loud that it was even better. Nina pulled herself up and waddled over to her mother so she could dance along with her. Her baby girl's dancing consisted of her trying to stay balanced on her feet while bobbing her head along to the music.

Bella loved moments like these, just her and Nina while Kol was out running some last minute errands for things that the both of them had planned. It wasn't until the music was turned off that Bella stopped and looked at the door, revealing a grinning Klaus and her mother and Phil looking as if they had seen a miracle. "Hi!" Bella laughed and hugged her mother tightly. "You're here! Oh my God, it's been too long, mom!" She then noticed Charlie behind them and flung into his arms to give him a big hug. "Oh, you arrived together! How awesome!"

She realized that she had been having so much fun with Nina, that she had forgotten how bad she needed the bathroom. "Look after Nina for me, I need to pee. Kol will be back soon." She then turned around and ran to the toilet, causing Nina to giggle.

"Unun," the girl made her way over to Klaus with raised arms and squeezed her fists together as if to make grabby hands for him to pick her up. "Up?"

"Alright, little bit," Klaus laughed as he lifted up the girl before meeting the gaze of the three parents in Bella's life. "Well, I suppose that leaves me to introduce you to Nina, of course."

"Oh, great! Hope has a sister!" Reneé smiled widely. "Does Bella look after her a lot?"

"Bloody hell," he muttered as he glared over his shoulder where his sister-in-law disappeared. "Nina is my niece, Mrs. Dwyer."

"Oh, so she's babysitting for one of your siblings?" Reneé asked instead.

Charlie huffed. "It's the day before her wedding and they have her babysitting?"

The hybrid drew in a deep breath, cursing Bella for not having informed her parents about the birth of her parents' grandchild. "Why would she be babysitting anyone's child? Especially so close to such a date? When was the last time she actually spoke to either of you?"

"Yes, exactly," Charlie said, nodding. "Oh, let's see… for me it was three years ago when she came to visit."

"And nothing since then?" Klaus questioned incredulously.

"You know how Bella gets, she's a free spirit, just like her mother."

He blinked in shock and aggravation. "Not for something such as a child! I ought to have Marcel remind her of some lessons of family… Nina is Isabella's child."

Bella peeked around the corner from the bathroom door. "I forgot to tell them, didn't I?" She winced.

"You have a lot of explaining to do Isabella," Klaus replied evenly as he eyed her. "I'll care for Nina while you sit with them. We will be back in a few hours. Best of luck Love!" He gave her a small wave, not wishing to drop the child as he held her securely to him. "Say Bu-bye to Mummy, Niñette."

"Bye, Mummy!" Nina waved before giving Klaus a wet kiss on his cheek.

"What?" Bella said as she walked back into the room. "It's easy to make a kid, it takes two people having sex, they know that. They made me!" She called after him as she saw the both of them walk away. She then saw the angry looks on her parents' faces and sighed. "I'm sorry. Surprise, you're grandparents?"

Yeah, she was in trouble.

She took her parents to the courtyard, out in the open where it was safe. Surely they wouldn't raise their voices that much if everyone could hear them? One of the servants that Klaus was trying out for the rehearsal dinner that evening approached them with coffee, apparently instructed by him to do so before leaving her to the wolves, in a manner of speaking.

"Surely I must have sent you a picture of her while we were traveling?" She tried as the servant put the coffee on the table. "Did I forget to tell you? Seriously?"

"While I'm incredibly happy for you, Bella," Reneé started as she looked at Charlie and then at Phil. "We all are happy for you, but… I am very disappointed." Bella recognized her mother's drama voice, but she wasn't kidding around. "Every parent dreams of being there for their child when they're giving birth. Or at least meet that child after it's born, because parents like to be grandparents. And you took away our initial joy and excitement of becoming grandparents."

"It's not that big of a deal?" Bella said confused.

"Now, Bells, I thought we raised you better than that," Charlie said carefully. "Look, I understand you're enjoying your freedom and all, but you have to get back to your usual responsible self. You have a child now; you're going to be married tomorrow and life isn't all about having fun. You need to get yourself a job."

"Hold on, when did the conversation turn around to me having fun?"

"You've been traveling around the globe for what? Five? Six years? It's easy to forget to share details with your family when you're having fun and dodging responsibility."

"Wait, how do you think we're funding these trips anyway?"

Reneé and Charlie looked at each other before looking at Bella and chorused, "Drugs."

"Oh come on!" Bella threw her hands up in defeat. "First of, look at the building you're in now. Does this look like poverty?"

"We taught you better than to live off of someone."

"I contribute," she growled evenly as she was prepared to square off against her own blood.

"Excuse me for intruding," Elijah spoke calmly as he emerged from behind the columns in the courtyard. With Kol running errands and unable to keep Bella from exploding, Elijah thought it was safe to keep an eye on his almost sister-in-law. "We have met before; I am Elijah, and I could not help but to overhear your conversation. If you'd allow me," he said as he pointed to the empty chair and when Bella visibly relaxed and nodded, he sat down.

"When my brother brought Isabella home to us, she was adamant that she was going to look for a job as to pay for her necessities. However, due to her issues with the Cullen family, we had her to settle in for a couple of months while we provided for her. This to allow for a period of rest before she'd start looking for a job," he explained as he smiled at Bella. "As you may know, Isabella had fallen out with the Cullen family. Upon their untimely demise, their estate was distributed, and she has inherited some money and she has an equal say in what she and my brother do upon their travels. Equal say, equal pay."

"Is this true?" Charlie eyed his daughter sharply. "Yet another thing you conveniently forgot to mention?"

She hesitated nervously, twisting her hands together on her lap. "It was a crazy situation. I didn't want you involved at the time. It was too - delicate."

"Sweetheart, we're your parents. Don't ever feel like something is too crazy or too weird for you to share it with us," Reneé smiled at her. "You're supposed to feel free to tell us everything."

Bella thought for a moment before looking at Elijah. "It would explain a lot. It would certainly help with tomorrow."

"Of course it would," he replied. "But tell me, does that also fix your mistake of not telling them about Nina?"

"You can fix that, right?" she said with a smirk.

"I could, but I like to see you suffer for a bit longer before I even start considering doing what you ask of me. As it goes against your nature," he said with an amused smile on his face. "Might I suggest, however, to wait with disclosing everything until Kol is back?"

"Yeah, but I don't trust them enough to keep the secret."

"There are ways to ensure that they will."

 **[Accessing current feeds]**

 **[Mystic Falls, VA. Former Salvatore Boarding House. January 21st, 2311. 10:05 am.]**

He had grown tired of watching his Bella sleep. He had been working on sorting out the spell for her all night - that was with using his vampire speed to read all the notebooks and find the similarities and dissimilarities. He had then been watching her sleep for a couple of hours. Like a creeper. Like that jerk Edward used to do to her.

But he couldn't help himself. While he was displeased about his resurrection, he felt it was worse for Bella, that she had returned too. Kol was used to it by now, after having been daggered a lot of times by his brother and then dying and not dying and returning again and again, but for Bella, she didn't deserve all this. She was a good person whereas he was not.

He was also happy that she had returned. It would indeed diminish the chance of his brother daggering him again, and Kol would get some more time with the love of his life, even though she was in a different body now. It was something new and exciting; he could take his time to explore her new body and drive her insane. Despite him wanting to, he had not instigated sex with her seeing as she still seemed off.

Being the selfish bastard that he was, he thought that today was going to be a good day for the both of them. He was going to ravage her, and if she'd stop him, he'd go to find a whore or something because Sam and Nik had been going at it almost every night, and that was frustrating. He didn't have to wait for Bella to be back to her usual self; she'd understand.

Kol gently unwrapped her from her blankets, revealing that she was wearing one of his shirts as her sleeping garb, looking incredibly cute while doing so. The main difference with her new body comparing to her original one was that she had curves, natural curves. Sure, she got curvy once she started to have their children, but this body appeared a lot more feminine. She looked as if she could fit in his pocket, cute as a button.

She slept with socks on. She had only done that during cold winters in the past, and it really wasn't cold in the Salvatore House right now. He pulled off one of the socks and ran his finger over the underside of her foot, causing her leg to jerk up, her knee nearly hitting him in the face. It was an undesired effect; he had hoped that she'd wake up from that.

With his annoyance growing stronger, it was proving difficult to not to just feed her his blood. She had told him she didn't want it, but he wanted her back to normal. Be Bella again. His Bella. It was also proving difficult not to just rip her panties and plunge into her to wake her up. He wanted to have sex, make her come over and over. He wanted to hear her screaming his name as she came.

He kissed his way up her leg as he tried to forget the fact that the witches had wanted to control his wife upon her resurrection. Bella wasn't to be monitored; she was to be experienced, to be loved and to be worshipped. She had excellent control over herself and others, why would anyone want to control her? Once the barrier around New Orleans was down, he was going to dust off his trusty baseball bat and frighten the shit out of those witches. He wouldn't kill them because Bella wouldn't want that.

When he reached her thigh, she had started to squirm a little, her soft moan telling him that she was waking up - finally - and playfully bit the inside of her leg. "Morning, Cuddles," he playfully said as he pushed up her shirt and started to kiss her stomach. "Slept well?"

"What are you doing?" Bella yawned as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes before moaning when she felt Kol's hand against her heat. "Oh, can I go pee first?"

"No," Kol growled as he decided to rip the annoying shirt that was now almost on his head. He wanted more access, and he could always buy a new shirt. Or get the fabric programmed nanobots to fix it, whatever. He then ripped her underwear. He wanted full access. He cupped one of her breasts and gently squeezed it as he shifted a little on the bed to needily kiss her. He didn't care what she wanted; he wanted her, and that was all that mattered.

One of these days he was going to force feed her his blood if she wasn't going to improve soon. He could deal with her wrath, she was just a witch, he was an Original vampire and even though he hated being one, now that she was back, it wasn't as bad.

"I really need to pee," Bella said as she moaned into the kiss and felt how her body involuntarily bucked against his. "Oh, forget it," she continued as she wrapped her arms around his neck and broke off the kiss long enough to mutter her favorite spell that Kol had taught her all these years ago. As she started to kiss him, his clothes disappeared in tiny little sparks, causing him to let out a moan and break off the kiss.

"I forgot how good that felt."

"Enjoy it while it lasts," she grinned as she pulled him back into a kiss, pressing her body against his.

Kol pushed her down and looked at her. "I'm not going to let you go, Bella. I'm not going to watch you die of old age while I'm staying this handsome."

"Who says I'm going anywhere?" She smiled sweetly at him as she buried her hands in his hair, gently tugging on it. "Once this is all over, you can turn me so you'll never have to feel alone or unwanted anymore."

"Don't be ridiculous." Sighing, he flopped down next to her on the bed, the mood long forgotten. "You have no idea what you're getting yourself into."

She rolled to her side and caressed his chest with her fingers as she looked up to him. "We've already spent a lifetime together and I loved it. Imagine what we could do when we're both immortal. What fun we could have. What mischief we could get into."

"How easy Niklaus could kill you."

Bella shrugged. "The way that I see it is that once this is all over, the Ancestors owe us. Big time."

"As much as I love your positive thinking, my sweet, I don't think that they'll be happy about you turning into a vampire either."

Huffing, Bella crawled on top of him and sat down on his torso. "Whatever, can we go back to having sex now? It's been far too long."

 **[Mystic Falls, VA. Former Salvatore Boarding House. January 21st, 2311. 12:33 pm.]**

Bella was in the livingroom, sitting on the floor surrounded by all the notebooks and Kol's notes about the matter while he took a nap. She was slightly uncomfortable after their romp between the sheets because biologically speaking, it had been her first time. Again.

Had she had known that, she'd not have allowed him to plunge into her like he had. It fucking hurt, she had screamed out in pain, causing Klaus to barge into their room thinking that there was something wrong and immediately left upon seeing the naked ass of his brother. And now she was frustrated and uncomfortable. It sucked.

And the worst part was that she had to be so human about it. Bear the pain like any other human being instead of spells or blood. It made her angry, but it was her choice. So she wasn't supposed to feel sorry for herself. She survived bungee-jumping, she could survive a little bit of feeling uncomfortable while she looked at the notebooks and munched on some stick that looked awful, but the taste closely resembled an apple.

"What is it with you witches? Always buried with your nose in books."

"Shut up, Damon."

"So that you know, you haven't prevented us from leaving the house." Damon moved into her peripheral vision and sat down next to her.

"I know," she said as she didn't look up.

"I heard you scream earlier." There was definitely a smile in his voice. "Must have been some amazing romp."

"Screw you."

"Are you offering?"

Sighing, Bella looked up at him. "What do you want, Damon?"

"I want you and your family to pack your stuff and leave my house."

"Would go a lot faster if you'd leave me to this," she nodded towards the papers. "And don't give me the crap that Kol looked over this because I know. I'm just checking if he missed anything."

Damon huffed. "Don't you trust him?"

"I'm the one doing the spell. I want to make sure everything is in order," she pointed at Kol's notes. "He missed one important thing; the location of where the spell originated."

"New Orleans, Duh."

"Yes, but where, Damon? I need to be at least 30 feet close to the point of origin otherwise it won't work. The spell that's around New Orleans is someone else's spell I need to undo, and I don't know if I can do it," she sighed as she rubbed her eyes out of frustration. "Not by myself anyway. I've often masked other people's spells with one of my own to cancel things out but nothing as significant as this."

"Yeah, you have," Damon said encouragingly. "You turned some of your friends into regular vampires, remember?"

"Yeah, but I had Kol and Davina…"

"Yes, and you're the almighty Bella Swan," he playfully hit her on the head. "Start acting like it before you make us vampires nervous with your behavior." He got to his feet again and walked off. "I'll go out and do some groceries for you today, how's that? I'll even cook."

Bella shook her head. "I'd rather prepare my own meal, incase…"

"No. I'm cooking."

"I could prevent you from leaving," she threatened playfully.

"Yeah, you won't."

* * *

 **A/N:** Thank you for reading! Sorry it's taking so long to update the story, I'm knee-deep in my other distraction; Fractured Marionette, a Klaus/Bella story. Go check it out :-)


	7. The Story of Us

**[The Abattoir, French Quarter, New Orleans. February 19th, 2020. 5:49 pm]**

She felt grateful for Elijah having spoken to her parents about how she choose to live, that she was responsible and that she had a good influence on Kol, for which he was grateful. They weren't too pleased, however, that they had to wait until their rehearsal dinner for Bella to explain to them that life was different now. How different it truly was.

Kol had returned after arranging some last minute details for the wedding tomorrow, and he wasn't too pleased with how Bella's parents had criticized her for her being 'irresponsible'. He apologized to them for not telling them they had a baby and taking away their 'first grandchild joy', without any prompting from Bella. "In all honesty, we're quite confident now that you'll be safe around our daughter. Maybe it was a good thing we didn't inform you," he said as he took a bite off his food.

"Excuse me?" Charlie stammered as he put down his fork and looked at Kol. "How can we not be safe around your daughter, Ka- Kol?"

Bella had to smile at that. It had been a slow process, but after telling her father that it had been a prank; that Kol had originally thought it would be funny to change his name because he was bored of it; Charlie had finally started to break the habit of calling him Kaleb. It made things so much easier. "Because our daughter is the product of two powerful witches, Dad," Bella said with a big smile on her face. "Anything could have happened while she was just a baby."

"It's not like I would have dropped her or anything," he grumbled as he took a sip of his wine. His ex-wife startled him by saying 'Aha!' maybe a little bit too loud. "What?"

"I knew it," Reneé said as she looked at Bella. "You said it was just a story, the one of us being descended from a long line of witches. But it's not, is it?"

"No," Bella smiled at her, glad that her mother at least remembered the story.

"Oh my god, I knew it! I knew that I was something special, you know how I can get, oh, that is amazing! What can I do?"

Bella watched in amusement as Klaus' face turned sour and her mother getting more excited about the possibilities. She let her ramble on for a little longer as she polished off her place and then decided to burst her mother's bubble. "Mom, you've always been flighty and awesome. You're my mom; your superpower was raising me. You were the vault."

"I thought your grandmother was," Reneé felt a little bit disappointed.

"No, it was grandpa's line."

"Oh drat," she sighed and then looked at Bella. "You're a witch?"

"Yeah," she smiled at her mother. "And so are Kol and Nina. And Hope, but she's also a part vampire and part werewolf."

Reneé's eyes grew big. "Vampires and werewolves are real too?"

"Yep, watch this," she said as she moved her hand to lift up her glass without touching it.

"Bella," she gasped before following the glass as it flew towards Klaus, who caught it so fast, that Reneé thought she was watching the scene unfold on fast forward. "Uhh…"

The color had drained out of Charlie's face as a sudden realization came over him. "There's something up with the Quileutes too, isn't there?"

"Yes, dad."

"Oh, I don't want to know," he groaned as he rubbed his eyes. "Why did you tell me?"

"Because, there will be a lot of supernatural guests at our wedding tomorrow. They know that it'll be safe for them to be out in the open within these walls. It's better for you to freak out now than tomorrow," Bella smiled at her father as the server poured him something stronger than wine.

"Also, I think that knowing all this, Bella's life makes a little bit more sense now," Phil added as he pat Charlie on the back before looking at Bella. "But the next time you're pregnant or have a baby, you inform us right away, got that?"

"Yes, Phil."

 **[The Abattoir, French Quarter, New Orleans. February 19th, 2020. 10:30 pm]**

Nina was having a sleepover with Hope and Uncle Klaus as Bella and Kol had decided to go along with Rebekah's 'crazy' ideas about having a traditional wedding, no matter how insane they were. This also meant that Kol was not supposed to sleep in the same room as Bella and that he could not see her before tomorrow. But that didn't mean that she was surprised when she walked out of the shower, naked and ready for bed, and saw Kol sitting on the bed with a big smile on his face.

"What if Rebekah finds you here?" She teasingly said as she picked up her robe and wrapped it around her before kissing him.

"I don't care," he grinned as he caressed her damp hair. "Because we need to talk and I think now is a good time."

"Oh, really?"

"Yep," he said with a nod before kissing her cheek. "And you'll probably believe that it's stupid that I want to tell you this, especially now, but I think you deserve to know how insanely happy you're making me."

"Would you have asked me to marry you if you didn't?" She smiled at him and ruffled his hair.

"I'm just really glad I have had the opportunity to fall in love and get married. Hell, even to have a kid," he smiled widely and for a moment, Bella feared for his health. He looked delirious. She didn't say anything but just kept caressing his hair as she looked up at him, waiting for him to be done talking. "While I know that Rebekah has already told you this, maybe you'd be interested in hearing my side. You see, before all of this, I was considered to be a wild card in the eyes of my siblings, especially when I was a vampire."

"You said you hated it."

"Oh, I did. And I loved it too. You see, while I wasn't able to practice magic anymore, I was invincible. I could do whatever I pleased. I traveled a lot, much like you and I have been doing for the last few years. But I was also not afraid to tell my brothers and sister what kind of jerks they were. The terrible trio with their stupid motto 'always and forever' and I was never included. I didn't feel involved. I acted out, raised some hell, got daggered a few times. Until Niklaus decided he needed more fun in his life, and it was just this cycle of love before it all came crashing down into hatred and the dagger yet again."

She nodded. She had heard the stories, and she was so glad that Kol had shown his siblings that he was just like them, redeemed himself in his human life.

"It was bittersweet when they finally included me into their pact of 'always and forever' when I was dying from the hex that my brother Finn put on me. Hexes are horrible. It only stops when the witch who cast it dies. Finn was a real mummy's boy. No one liked him, which is why he was in his box for so long." Kol sighed as he absent-mindedly toyed with a strand of her damp hair.

"My siblings don't know, they might suspect though, but I remember everything that happened when I was dead and joined the ancestors of the witches of New Orleans. I told them, repeatedly how unfair it was that Finn got to live on, for a while longer, at least, and I was stuck with them. I had so much more to live for and to make things better and just enjoy life as a human again. There wasn't a day that went passed where I begged them to return me; it didn't even have to be the same body. And they kept refusing because dead is dead, and I got angrier and angrier. I just wanted another chance after having those opportunities taken away from me all the time."

"You're right, it was unfair."

Kol nodded while he took another deep breath. "Davina and Rebekah's meddling didn't go unnoticed by the Ancestors either. While I was grateful for their efforts, they weren't delicate about it. They tried spell after spell after spell to get me back, and the Ancestors became aggravated, especially when they contacted Bonnie Bennett, the witch from Mystic Falls. Bonnie wisely stayed out of it, but Davina and Rebekah only became more determined. When they eventually started casting a spell that would ensure the destruction of the Ancestors, they realized that keeping me with them was more trouble than I was worth. They decided I had to live with the consequences of me being brought back to life."

"That is not fair."

"It certainly wasn't. My sister, of course, got the better part of the deal by having her returned to her original body even though like me, she enjoyed being human so much. The Ancestors erased every single feeling Davina and I had shared with each other while we were going out. Saying that we both should start over and that I was doomed never to love anyone again, they made sure of it."

"Well, that obviously didn't work," she remarked with a slight chuckle, causing Kol to smile as well.

"They told me that I could only date or fall in love with girls from the Claire family line. Seeing as Davina was the only surviving member of her family… I was pissed. How could I live a full, normal life without someone to love? And sure, I know that one could lead a normal life without ever falling in love again but that's not me. I want it all or nothing. I was angry with my sister and Davina and decided to disappear for a few months, just to get my ducks back in a row and simmer down," Kol put his arms around Bella and pulled them down to the bed where he snuggled up against her, putting his head on her shoulder.

"After a while, I realized that what Davina and Rebekah had done was out of love. That it probably wasn't so bad that I wouldn't ever be able to fall in love again because I got what I wanted most; my family. And then," he looked up at her with a smile. "A few months after I got back, I was taking care of some business for my brother and this stupid girl walks into the store, thinking it was a coffee shop. This awkward looking, too skinny looking girl who didn't seem to notice the world around her and ordered coffee while she did her own thing."

Bella giggled as Kol bopped her nose with his index finger.

"If this girl had been more aware of her surroundings, she would have seen two surprised witches trying to contain a malevolent spirit who had been killing and scaring innocent humans for weeks," he laughed and settled against her again. "So the gas leak was born because we could not risk the spirit going after the human girl. Little did I know, I was sending her back to her abusers and when my brother called to help him out, I could have kicked myself when I saw the beautiful girl again."

"That girl sounds like trouble."

"Oh yeah, she was," Kol grinned as he snuck his hand inside her robe and gently started to massage her breast. "I had been so scared when we found out you're a Claire witch because I already liked you, and I was so afraid that we wouldn't work out. You've brought hope back into my life, Bella Swan, and for that, I'm eternally grateful."

"I would have fallen for you anyway and it sounds to me, that I'm the lucky one. Hadn't I been a Claire witch, even though many many times removed, you wouldn't be able to return the feelings," she said as she ran her hand through his hair. "I'm sorry you went through all that, Kol," she added softly. "But I'm glad we have an incredible life together and it'll continue to grow in its awesomeness."

"You're such a cheesecake," he snorted.

"Says the Alpha Cheesecake."

 **[The Abattoir, French Quarter, New Orleans. February 20th, 2020. 10:34 am]**

Rebekah had been none too pleased when she came to bring the bride breakfast in bed that morning and discovered Kol had been with Bella all night. They'd just been talking and had fallen asleep around 5 am, but she didn't want to hear anything about that. Part of Bella felt sorry for allowing Rebekah to do what she wanted to do, but, on the other hand, this was as much as Rebekah and Klaus' day as it was Kol and Bella's.

They had allowed them to take care of everything, in their taste, to make them happy, but Bella and Kol had plans of their own, and that was going to be so much better. It already made her feel giddy thinking about it while Rebekah was trying to style Bella's hair into something that fitted with the beautiful dress. She had to hand it to Rebekah; she had a nose for fashion, and the dress was absolutely stunning. One thing though; it wasn't Bella's idea of being comfortable, she could hardly move in it, but it'd change.

Bella and Kol wanted to give Rebekah and Klaus seemingly the perfect wedding for them. She wanted to see her parents see them in this fairytale appearance. But not for long. She was getting restless, and not just because of the wedding jitters; no, it was all about being back home for an extended period of time. She couldn't wait until she, Kol and Nina would go back to traveling and see the world.

"Mama, look!" Nina burst through the door in her lovely flower girl dress, stomping around as fast as she possibly could to get to her mother. "Pretty!"

"Oh, you look beautiful!" Bella lifted Nina up on her lap and kissed her on her cheek, much to Rebekah's dismay as Bella moved while she was still trying to make Bella's hair behave. "You look like a real princess."

"I am!" Nina's gaze fell upon Bella's half eaten toast with jam and reached for it while Bella made sure she wouldn't fall off her lap. She had to stretch a little bit further and sighed before leaning against Bella and looked up to her. "Bread?"

She gently took Nina's hand and turned it, so it was palm up as she stretched out her arm. "Look," Bella whispered in her ear as the toast started to float right into Nina's hand. It was funny when she was born that Kol panicked a little seeing as Nina would be a first born Mikaelson witch and incredibly powerful, but she was doing great. "Try not to spill anything on your beautiful dress, okay?"

"Okay."

No major accidents happened so far, apart from the time where she threw a toddler tantrum a couple of months back and blew out the tires of the car they were in. Maybe the lack of extreme power had to do something with that technically, by blood, she wasn't a Mikaelson seeing as Kol was in someone else's body. But Nina was a Mikaelson, and nothing else. She was still Kol's daughter. And more importantly; she was a Swan.

 **[The Abattoir, New Orleans. February 20th, 2020. 2:20 pm]**

Rebekah had brought her up to the second floor, on top of the stairs and out of sight, with her vampire speed. She was now correcting every bit of Bella's gorgeous dress that was out of place due to the velocity.

She was wearing a strapless cream-coloured wedding dress with a huge tulle skirt and she was glad she was going to be able to hang on to her father as she'd descend the stairs because she couldn't even see her own feet. Yes, her balance had improved significantly but tripping over a skirt in front of so many people was not a good impression.

"Relax," Rebekah calmly said as she adjusted Bella's hair. "They're just people and they're not important."

Bella huffed as she looked at the people in the courtyard. She recognized some of them, but she didn't have a clue who 90% of all those people were. If it hadn't been for Klaus wanting to invite all of them for 'political reasons', they wouldn't have been there, and the wedding would have been a lot smaller. She was glad to see Paula there, the midwife who helped deliver Nina.

Her old friends from Forks were there as well. Angela, married to Ben and mother to twins who were six months older than Nina. Mike and Jessica C, a girl who was a grade below them when they were in school. What set her apart from Jessica Stanley was that she was incorruptible, she was an excellent cook and a mean drinking buddy. She and Mike weren't married and were definitely not going to get married, really. Absolutely not, oh, what's that? A bird!

What surprised her though was that Jacob was sitting next to Charlie. She hadn't seen him in a very long time, and he had changed a lot. He had long hair again; he was tall and bulky and handsome. A real Chief in the making. She was surprised he was wearing a suit. It didn't suit him at all.

Her gaze then fell on the Mikaelson brothers, all ridiculously handsome in their suits. Even Elijah, who always wore suits in the first place, but had opted for a more expensive one for the wedding. When she looked at Kol, her eyes met his, and the biggest, goofiest grin appeared on his face. It made her insides melt, and if it hadn't been for Rebekah holding on to her, she would have tumbled right off the stairs. Talk about making an entrance at your own wedding!

"Mama pretty princess," Nina giggled as she tried to get under Bella's skirt.

"Oh, no, we're having none of that, little lady," Rebekah gently pulled the toddler away from her mother. "Come on, let's lay down some beautiful rose petals on the stairs so your mum can walk over them."

"Bella, you look…"

She looked at her dad, and he had the same look on his face as when he saw her in her prom dress. "Dad, don't start," she said as she hugged him. "It's just a dress." Bella could hear Rebekah huff a 'hardly' as she helped Nina and Hope walk down the stairs as the little girls threw flowers all over the stairs.

"Are you sure you want to go through with this, Bells?" Charlie asked huskily as he gently put his arm around hers and took her hand. "I mean, you don't have to get married if you don't want to, no one will judge you if you're unmarried for the rest of your life."

"I want this," she smiled at him and gently squeezed his hand. "I want him. He's the best thing that has ever happened to me and makes my life so much brighter. Why wouldn't I go through with this? There's no reason for me not to."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," she laughed and kissed her father on his cheek. "Come on, let's go downstairs, let's not keep them waiting any longer."

The music started playing when they were halfway down the stairs, and it was weird that everyone was standing up for her and looking at her, at that. When she reached the end of the rows, it was just one straight line to Kol and grinned as her eyes met his. When he nodded, they both cast a spell or two to transform everything in the courtyard to what they thought was nice to get married in.

Gone were the white curtains draped entirely to one side creating arches as they exploded into multicolored confetti, spraying all over the guests. Bella's dress turned into something she really liked, a pastel red-colored gown with no tule but satin and embroidery on the bottom of her knee-length skirt. The gates flew open, and at least a hundred puppies came running in, creating havoc as they ran through people's legs.

Elijah's expensive suit turned into a suit of toilet paper and Rebekah's hair turned as red as the dress she was now wearing. With a tiny additional spell, Kol made sure his sister's hair was no longer done up perfectly. Instead, it was a mohawk. The music switched from the classical wedding tune to "Addicted to you" by Avicii. Bella looked at her father; he had turned pale, and his jaw had dropped to the floor because of the chaos that ensued after Bella and Kol released their spells into the wild.

Smirking, Bella dragged her father along towards the front, towards Kol, under cheering and clapping from the wedding guests. Elijah looked bemused, and Rebekah had a look of sheer terror on her face, but Klaus' reaction cut the cake. "You had to bring in the puppies?"

 **[The Abattoir, New Orleans. February 20th, 2020. 10:21 pm]**

After the wedding ceremony and drinks and a big feast, they had a party to celebrate Kol and Bella's union. The look on everyone's faces when this old song from a musical called Avenue Q started playing called "The Internet For Porn" was just brilliant before it changed into Halestorm's "Freak Like Me" for their first dance together. It had them jumping around like the insane people they were while Nina joined them.

The party was great, and even Davina was having a great time, even though she was watched closely by Marcel and Rebekah. Some tourists had wanted to join the party but were being shown out by some of Marcel's nightwalkers and for the rest of the party, it had been fun. Brainless fun with good music and a spell here and there to play with the lights.

Around nine thirty pm, Bella had been looking around the compound for Nina, to put her to bed, but hadn't been able to find her anywhere by the time she had looked in every room. Most of the guests had left already when she quietly made her way down the stairs towards Kol. As she bumped into Klaus on the way over, she pulled him along with her because she hadn't been able to find Hope either.

"What's going on, Bella?" Klaus noticed the panicked look on her face, and he was instantly worried.

"I can't find Nina or Hope."

"What!" Klaus breezed as he spat off to look in every room himself but even with using his vampire speed, vision, and enhanced smell, he couldn't find a trace of the children. Growling, he returned to Kol and Bella. "Get changed, we're going hunting," he said to her, but she shook her head. "Okay, let's go. I might have an idea where they went, or at least who took them."

"Who?"

"Davina."

"Oh, come on Nik," Kol said as he followed his brother. "Davina might be slightly off her rocker these days, but she wouldn't go after children just to get to the person behind them."

"Don't let your previous relationship cloud your judgment, brother," Klaus said, his voice had a hint of anger, but he sounded in control as they kept marching towards the City of the Dead.

"You forget that we-"

"Kol, I know you still remember it. Davina might not, but I know you do so don't try to bullshit me," he replied as he looked at Bella. "You okay on those high heels, love, or do you want us to carry you?"

Bella muttered a spell to make her heels into flats. "Pick up the pace, Klaus, if she has our children, she's going to die."

Klaus shot her a look of surprise and she smirked in return. Yeah, Kol had told her _everything_ alright, it didn't bother her. She knew Kol was hers and it filled her with some sort of twisted glee that Davina could no longer have Kol, even if at some point in her life the feelings would return.

"Don't make me into the bad guy here, it's not my fault!" Kol replied angrily. "But I'm telling you, it's not Davina who took them!"


	8. Family Tree

I KNOW. Author's notes SUCK. However, this story requires some 'visual' because it takes place 300 years in the future and with stories set in the 'past' until the 'present' (which is 300 years in the future), you're going to see a lot of names.

To show you that I'm not bullshitting you, here's a complete family tree of Bella and Kol's progeny, children of first borns only, the reasons for that will be explained in the story.

And at the end of Pandore, I shall post a timeline.

(I already had to promise Meeko not to write a story like this again. My apologies.)

Isabella Marie Swan x Kol Mikaelson

 **Nina** Renée Mikaelson 2018  
Sophia Hope Mikaelson 2020  
Eliana Rebecca Mikaelson 2024  
Oliver Alexander Mikaelson 2030

Kids of Nina:   
**Isabella** Davina Mikaelson 2038  
Kol Peter Mikaelson 2045

Kids of Isabella:  
 **Becky** Mikaelson 2063  
Oliver Peter Mikaelson 2065

Kids of Becky:  
 **Nick** Damon Mikaelson 2085  
Kol Jasper Mikaelson 2086  
Charles Edward Mikaelson 2089  
Josephine Isabella Mikaelson 2095

Kol Jasper "KJ" Mikaelson is turned in 2106 by Klaus.  
Charles Edward "Chuck" Mikaelson is turned in 2110 by Rebekah, but eventually kills himself because he didn't want to be a vampire.

Kids of Nick   
**Alexander** Joseph Mikaelson 2112  
Oliver Stefan Mikaelson 2117  
Duke Remus Mikaelson (1) 2120

Duke Remus Mikaelson is turned by Klaus in 2150. Sameen kills him 100 years later.

Kids of Lex   
**Esther** Jane Mikaelson 2136

Kids of Esther:  
 **Caleb** Klaus Mikaelson 2168  
Sonny James Mikaelson 2169

Sonny James "SJ" Mikaelson was recovering from an accident and had received Sam's blood. Damon kills SJ, inevitably turning him.

Kids of Caleb   
**Jeroen** Mikaelson 2187

Kids of Jeroen:   
**James** Edward Mikaelson 2212  
Xander Jeroen Mikaelson 2215  
Elijah Nicholas Mikaelson 2218

James Edward Mikaelson is an asshole. You'll see.  
Xander Jeroen Mikaelson was turned by Klaus in 2240.

Kids of James:   
**Axel** Torsten Mikaelson 2232  
Isobel Marie Mikaelson 2235  
Elijah Kol Mikaelson 2237  
Niklaus Caleb Mikaelson 2240  
Duke Oliver Mikaelson (2) 2245

Elijah Kol Mikaelson is turned by Rebekah in 2250 due to his illness.  
Niklaus Caleb Mikaelson is killed by Klaus out of frustration in 2260.

Kids of Axel:   
**Jessica** James "JJ" Mikaelson 2248  
Remus John Mikaelson 2259  
Kol Mikaelson 2262

Remus John Mikaelson is turned by Damon to annoy Klaus.  
Kol Mikaelson dies in a caraccident.  
Axel thought it was funny to call his first born son Jessica. Jessica James "JJ" Mikaelson becomes a regent. He is a former regent in 2311

Kids of JJ:   
**Isabella** Esther Mikaelson 2267  
Kol Ulf Mikaelson 2280

Isabella Esther Mikaelson is the current regent.

Kid of Isabella:  
 **Vanja** Ulrika Mikaelson 2290  
 **Malin** Isobel Mikaelson 2290  
Daisy Hayley Mikaelson 2291  
Jeffrey Aaron Mikaelson 2295  
Claire Theresa Mikaelson 2295

Daisy Hayley Mikaelson is Bella's host body.  
Jeffrey Aaron Mikaelson died at birth due to chip malfunction  
Claire Theresa Mikaelson is a harvest girl in 2311.

I'm not crazy, I'm a pancake? I actually did a similar thing for Sanctuaire where I had to work backwards to see how long ago it was for Bella not being a Claire witch.


	9. Viper

**[City of the Dead, LaFayette Cemetery 1, New Orleans, LA. February 20th, 2020. 10:54 pm.]**

He was ready to sink his teeth into the little witch. Ever since he returned to New Orleans, she had been nothing but trouble. She had made questionable decisions at every turn, and he couldn't remember one single good, profitable, thing that she's ever done. Davina Claire was this tiny little pest who had everyone wrapped around her finger. She was Hellbent on destroying him, foiling every plan Elijah had to make New Orleans a better place, to create peace and maintain the balance of power.

Whoever thought it was a good idea to make a power hungry witch even more powerful by making her regent of all nine covens in New Orleans had been right out of their minds. Fortunately, he had killed Vincent the first chance that he had once they had extracted Klaus' brother Finn from his body. He had corrupted Davina even further. Klaus had to admit, despite Kol's penchant for wreaking havoc and his desire to kill him in the past, Kol had been a real influence on Davina. Right until he died the first time, and the Ancestors took away their relationship upon his return. Marcel, whom Klaus had tasked with to keep an eye on her, was mere minutes away from getting his heart ripped out for his treason. Marcel would have stopped her if he'd truly been on Klaus' side.

However, Klaus felt euphoric that Bella came into their lives. Under her influence, Kol had mellowed somewhat, and Klaus didn't even have to think about keeping an eye on the former happy homicidal maniac. Kol was still a happy lunatic but no longer out for blood - much. But right now, Klaus imagined that both his brother and sister-in-law were seeing red, their daughter had been taken. Their family. And yet, Kol wanted to defend the little witch, saying she would never stoop this low. Idiot.

Hope had been taken as well and while Klaus was extremely pissed about that too, Nina was an innocent bystander. Bella and Kol had done nothing to deserve Davina's wrath. Maybe it was stupid that he felt more angry about that than on the kidnapping of his own daughter, but he didn't care. It also gave him some peace of mind that his daughter was with his niece, she'd look after her. Precious little Nina, just a toddler.

He kicked in the door of Davina's hideout. "Where are they!" He demanded as he made his way through the building, followed closely by Kol and Bella.

Davina looked up from writing something down with a look on her face that was a mix between confused and sheer terror. Bella could feel how she put up her defenses as she addressed the angry hybrid. "What are you talking about?" She then looked at Kol and Bella and cocked her head. "Shouldn't you two be consuming your marriage by now?"

"Don't play dumb with me, Davina Claire," Klaus sneered. "Where are Nina and Hope?"

"What do you mean?"

Klaus launched himself at the small witch but immediately fell to the floor, writhing in agony before she looked at the happy couple.

"Hope and Nina are gone, Davina," Kol spoke calmly, not wanting to suffer her wrath as Klaus was currently doing.

"Oh. That sucks," she evenly replied as she released Klaus from the spell and saw the look on the faces of the Mikaelsons. She couldn't help but laugh. "You really think I have something to do with it? Oh, wow, that's just..."

"No, I don't," Kol spoke as he gently squeezed Bella's hand. He could feel her fear for the children radiate off of her. She wasn't angry either, just scared. "Neither does Bella."

She turned to Klaus, who had been smart and had stayed down on the floor. "But you do. I'm hurt, Klaus. Do you think that I would take your children to get to you? Innocent children who have nothing to do with my business with you? I have to admit, it's something I briefly considered, but I realized that you would do something like that, and I am nothing like you."

"Then where are they, Davina? If they're not here, where are they?"

"Not here, obviously!" She shot at Klaus. "Even if I had them, do you think I would be so stupid to bring them here?" Davina rolled her eyes at the hybrid before looking at the couple. "I'll help you. I doubt a locator spell would work, but with the three of us we surely have enough power to push through whatever magic is protecting them, if it's magic in the first place."

Bella wasn't quite sure what to think. She couldn't believe that Davina was that good of an actress, and she was still angry about this whole situation. She was supposed to be celebrating her union with Kol, have wild sex in every corner of their room, the bath tub and whatever and this was not how she thought their day would end. She did know that whoever took Nina and Hope, they were going to die. Either Klaus would tear them apart or Bella would make their deaths agony by slowly pulling them apart.

Either way, they were going to pay for what they've done. No one was touching her baby girl and her niece and get away with it.

 **[Accessing current feeds]**

 **[Mystic Falls, VA. Former Salvatore Boarding House. January 23rd, 2311. 11:23 am.]**

Bella had had a rough night; she had kept vomiting and eventually had retreated to the bathroom and locked the door because Kol and Klaus kept hovering. When morning finally came, she lay curled up on the couch, sleeping, with a blanket over her while the other Mikaelsons watched over her.

"How is this possible?" Klaus breezed. "I thought the food we got her was clean, something that agreed with her. Did Damon undercook something?"

"No, the food was excellent," Kol sneered at his brother. "I checked." Something else had to be going on, and he hoped it wasn't because of what he had done. He had felt awful about how his wife was doing so poorly after her return from the dead. He had watched her suffer for a few days, and despite him offering to feed her some of his blood - she didn't want it.

She had been so human about it, that whatever she was suffering from was going to go away eventually, and she didn't need any magic or blood to help her get over it. So, he did what he did best; he became impatient and had put some of his blood in her hot cocoa the night before and had her drink it all.

It made him feel sick to his stomach knowing that he could have caused this. He'd promised her not ever to hurt her, and he had. Luckily, the tiny bit of blood that he had given her should have gone through her system by now, and she'd get better again. Hopefully. She had to get better. He wasn't sure that he would want to go on without her now that she was back. Kol'd get his brother to dagger him for eternity, or he'd find the remains of the White Oak Tree and kill himself. For sure.

No, maybe not.

"It must be the damn chip in her head," Klaus muttered as he looked at Bella. "Does our friend know if it's safe for her to keep it in her head?"

"It's not the chip, Klaus," Sam gently said as she stood behind him and massaged his shoulders, he looked like he needed it. "I think it's something else."

"What, love?" Klaus looked up to Sameen, who nodded towards Kol. She had seen the slight change in expression on his face when he spoke about the food and thought it was shifty. Sure, she thought something else was going on too, but at least she knew for a fact that Kol had done something. "Kol?"

"Nik?"

"What did you do?"

Klaus sounded too calm, too calm for Kol's liking and quickly thought if his brother had anything on him that could severely hurt him. "Nothing," he replied as he got up and moved closer to Bella. If needed, he'd wake her up but before he realized it, his brother had pushed him across the room and up against a wall.

"What. Did. You. Do, Kol?" Klaus breezed as he had put his arm against his brother's throat and kept him there. "Are you really that dimwitted to harm your wife?" He pulled Kol away from the wall before slamming him into it again. "Have you lost your bloody mind?"

Letting out a growl, Kol pushed Klaus off of him, launching him through the air into another wall, the painting crashing right on top of his brother. He was on top of him in seconds, grabbing Klaus by his shoulders before hoisting him up and threw him across the room again.

"Guys!" Sam's voice sounded calm, but there was a warning underneath it. "Stop it. Right now. We're not going to do this again."

"If you want to live, stay out of this," Kol spat at his brother's mate, causing Klaus to knock him over and stab him with a broken bottle. "You bloody tosser!" he growled, kicking his brother off of him, again, and pulled the bottle out of him before launching it at Klaus.

"Hey! Redirect your anger towards something else before you end up destroying this house," Sam knew that she could only throw idle threats at the boys. The only reason their fights ended in the past was because she got herself into harm's way trying to diffuse the fight, nearly killing her once or twice.

Bella had woken up from the ruckus and looked around, seeing the destruction and finding Sam somewhere out of the brothers' way. "What's going on?" She watched how Kol got flattened to the ground by Klaus sitting on top of him before Kol kicked him off of him. When Klaus hit the ceiling, Kol was already on the other end of the room, his smile matching his brother's. "Boys?"

"See, this is what I was talking about," Sam said as she sat down on the couch next to Bella. "Amongst other things."

"They're just fighting."

"They're destroying the house," Sam pointed out. "And while I love a good fight, I don't fancy meddling with two Originals. Again."

"But why though? Why are they fighting?"

"Kol did something to you to make you this sick," she replied as she winced at the sight of Kol slamming Klaus into the fireplace, leaving an enormous dent in the shaft. "He's not saying what."

"Oh," Bella huffed. "It's fine. I know." She got to her feet, a little bit unsteady at first but managed to stay upright and pulled the two fighting brothers away from each other with her magic. "Calm the fuck down, both of you." When both brothers opened their mouth to say something, she pushed them against the opposite walls. "Calm down."

"He started it!" Kol said as he pointed at his brother, unable to move from his position.

"No, Kol, you started it!" Klaus sneered, frustrated that Bella kept him dangling from the wall.

"Look, I don't mind you two having a fight, but don't do it inside the house because it's not your house. It belongs to Damon and Stefan," Bella spoke calmly and lowered both brothers down. "But so that you know, I know that Kol fed me his blood and now we know it won't work. I'm surprised his patience lasted this long."

"Hey!" Kol complained as Bella put both siblings down on the ground. "Am I that transparent?"

"No," she smiled sweetly at him and made her way over to him to kiss him. "But you love me and don't like to see me suffer. Vampire blood should be healing anything, and it didn't. What I don't like is that you went against my wishes."

"Against your wishes or not, you are going to visit a doctor today to have your blood tested," Klaus growled, still angry that Kol had given Bella his blood. He could understand why, Klaus would probably have done the same to Sameen had they been in similar situations, but the girl had reacted so violently that something must have been wrong.

If anything, Bella's response to Kol's blood was what he had expected what would happen. He and Sameen hadn't said anything about it to the newly reunited couple as not to worry them, but Bella's blood smelled off. She smelled off, unlike any other human being. Sameen had told him on the day that Bella had come home after having spent time together on the train and in the car.

Klaus had smelled it. At first, he had shrugged it off due to Bella just having been resurrected, but the smell had persisted. If anything, it had gotten worse since she had returned from her solo trip to New Orleans. She wasn't affected by a witches' curse. If she were, she would have noticed that herself. Something more subtle was going on, and he was determined to get to the bottom of it.

"Fine," Bella said with a shrug. "I'm going to take a shower, get into some comfortable, warm clothes and drag Kol off with me while you clean up the mess you two have created."

"Your health is the reason for this mess."

She angrily muttered a spell to cast an illusion over the fireplace so that it appeared fixed as she walked up the stairs. "The rest is up to you!"

 **[Mystic Falls, VA. Doctor's office. January 23rd, 2311. 2:13 pm.]**

"Oh God, that does smell horrid…" Kol scrunched his nose upon smelling Bella's blood as the doctor, heavily under compulsion, had made a tiny incision for some of his nanobots to get inside of Bella to analyze her body.

Bella had ignored him as she was fascinated by how modern medicine had made giant leaps in the last 300 years. The doctor had explained to her that the nanobots could see everything, test for anything and, when programmed for it, could fix damage like broken bones or whatever, making the patient load on hospitals non-existent. There were even kits you could use at home to test yourself for cancer or even cure it. It was all very mind boggling to her, and it kind of freaked her out; surely there were still malevolent hackers about? What if such nanobot would get stuck somewhere? Or not come out of her body?

"Hmm," the doctor said as he observed what his bots were gathering. "Oh, oh, dear."

"What?" Kol demanded as he eyed the doctor. "You're under compulsion, remember? Tell it like it is."

"Ah, well, for one, I haven't seen this in a very long time. My hobby is rare herbs and all but the results that they are showing me… You ah… you're a vampire and your wife is a witch, correct?"

"Yes, we've told you that ten minutes ago," Kol spat.

"Kol, calm down."

"There's no calming down, Bella, he's worried, which makes me worried and when I get worried, I get angry so he'd better tell me what's going on before I snap his neck."

"It seems like a week ago; you've ingested a large amount of a mixture of a wild variety of hemlock combined with vervain, wolfsbane, lobelia flower and yellow chrysanthemum laced with arsenic. In the old days, you'd have been dead instantly from the hemlock and arsenic alone, but with the climate change and all, the potency of these herbs have diminished," the doctor continued happily, almost as if he was fangirling over the herbs. "These bots can't tell if magic has been used, so you're on your own with that. There's some damage to the anterior section of your hypothalamus, specifically the part that regulates your body temperature. Unfortunately, we can do a lot with medicine these days but I can't fix this. Especially if there's magic involved. I could end up making you feel worse."

Bella felt the color drain out of her face and had set up a barrier around the doctor to save him from Kol's anger. If it were possible, there would be fumes coming out of his ears right now. "It makes sense now," she said softly before getting up and started pacing around, her own anger now coming to the surface. "Those stupid, conniving witches! I'm going to kill them!"

"That's the spirit, Cuddles," Kol smirked. "Now, would you please lower down the shield so I can snack on the good old doctor?" It didn't seem like Kol had been adequately listening to the doctor's words. If she had to guess, he tuned the doctor out after listing the herbs, probably trying to make sense of them himself instead of trying to hear the doctor out. Kol knew his herbs alright, always boasting about his extensive knowledge, but the look on his face told her that he realized that it was a miracle that Bella was still walking around on two feet. And at the same time he was probably trying to force the negativity to the back of his head.

Bella scowled as she did what he asked of her before using that special wand the doctor used to get the nanobots out of her body before looking around for a band-aid. She watched in fascination as Kol drained the doctor from all his blood, finding it strangely arousing.

So what she was being poisoned by the witches? She was going to kill them and if she weren't going to be able to, Kol definitely would. Now that she knew that her troubles were magical, she was going to find out before they'd go to New Orleans and lower the barrier to take it back. She felt betrayed, angry and found the entirety of it all so unfair.

It wasn't fair.

But she was certainly going to have sex with Kol on the examination table once her husband was done snacking. They both needed to redirect their anger towards something mutually beneficial for the town's safety. Then, they'd go home and inform the others, find the right location to do the spell to drop the barrier and get it done. Then maybe, just maybe, when she wasn't dead yet, she was going to kill those witches and find herself a cure. Getting turned into a vampire was impossible now, seeing as she couldn't hold down Kol's blood.

Fucking witches. They were going to die.

 **[Mystic Falls, VA. Former Salvatore Boarding House. January 23rd, 2311. 5:43 pm.]**

Bella was hungrily eating her chicken legs that they had picked up from the shop as Kol informed his brother what they had discovered. She was still a bit floaty because of the incredible sex they had had; who knew that shared anger sex was so amazing? She was now once again cold and sitting in front of the fireplace while enjoying her food. She should feel too angry to even be able to eat, but she had to have something. Unlike the vampires in the house, she actually needed human food to sustain herself.

While Kol was talking to Klaus and Sameen, Bella was also thinking about what the doctor had said. If magic had been involved, he couldn't have done anything, but surely there was a way for Bella to find out if magic had been used? She had used a spell like that, once and had written it down somewhere. What had Klaus done with their grimoires or were they still in the Crypt? She couldn't remember if she'd given them to Klaus to protect.

She shifted a little to see if her bones had warmed up yet but let out a deep breath when that hadn't happened yet. Had she given Nina access to her and Kol's books? Why couldn't she remember? Had it been that long ago or that unimportant? Sighing, Bella looked up from the flames and looked at Klaus. "Klaus, where did our grimoires end up?"

"They're in a safe place. They hold a lot of powerful magic, I couldn't allow for it to be passed down to your descendants."

Bella nodded. "I need them, can you get to them?"

"What, now?"

"Please?" She smiled at him. "Unless they're far away, then no."

"What do you need the books for, Cuddles?" Kol asked as he sat down next to her and gently rubbed her arms over the thick blanket she had already over her. He was worried that their extracurricular activity of today was the cause of her feeling this cold again. He certainly hoped not as it was something they could for sure repeat one day. "You have a talent for remembering all your spells, everything you've done. You know them."

"I do, I just want to be sure. It would also give me an opportunity to look for the other spell to help me bring down the barrier around New Orleans." Well, that was half a lie, and she hoped that Klaus hadn't picked up on that; werewolves could always tell when someone was lying. She had been so relieved that Kol's mind hadn't shifted into overdrive after realising that it had been a miracle that Bella was still walking around, breathing.

Maybe even thinking that the herbs would work their way out of her system on their own because she didn't seem to be suffering much from their effects and up until today she had been doing fine. She just couldn't remember her spells, almost as if her brain had started to develop dementia within the last twelve hours. When she heard Klaus huff, she knew she had been caught. She sweetly smiled at Kol and caressed his face. "Besides, wouldn't it be fun to see our books again?" Hell, maybe she could find something that would get the poison out of her system.

"Sure," he smiled and kissed the top of her head. "But let's focus on the barrier spell first, alright? We can worry about other things later."

Or maybe, she thought, he knew quite well what was going on and didn't want to upset her, make her last days count. Or something.

"There's a slight problem with getting those books," Sam replied and shrugged when Klaus shot her angry look, willing her to shut up. "They're in New Orleans."

"Oh, well, that's okay," Bella shrugged and pushed her food away from her as she settled against Kol before sitting up again and scribbled something on a piece of paper before handing it to him. "I can drop the barrier tomorrow if you have enough cannon fodder for the werewolves. I need these herbs to help me."

"Don't you need a particular location?"

Bella shrugged. "I'll wing it and I guess that he cast the spell at a central spot in New Orleans. Which is around the old Gentilly landfill in its current state. Should be close enough," she spoke before drawing the current state of New Orleans onto a piece of paper. "There are two cable cars - or things that look like them anyway but they're a lot faster - going up to New Orleans. One takes you to Downman Road, and the other takes you closer to the French Quarter. If I time it right, you could use them to get into New Orleans without a scratch."

"Isn't there another way?" Klaus tiredly rubbed his face.

"Uhm, not that I know of. You could, of course, get off the vactrain and hop on the next one when I've lowered the barrier but yeah, those cars give me a little bit more time to get there."

"I don't like this plan," Kol said as he playfully poked Bella's shoulder. "Because you're going into werewolf territory all by yourself."

"I'm a big witch, Kol, I can take care of myself," she said with a grin on her face.

"Who says she's going to be on her own?" Sam said with a knowing smirk on her face. "We'll discuss the details later. For now, you're going to relax your ass off, and we're going to take care of your shopping list."

"But…"

"Yes, and a nice butt you have, Cuddles," Kol grinned as he scooped her up from the floor and took her upstairs. "A nice, hot bath."

"Will you be in it?"

"Oh, I don't know if I could keep my hands to myself…"


	10. Homecoming

**[Mystic Falls, VA. Former Salvatore Boarding House. January 24th, 2311. 10:31 am.]**

The plan to go to New Orleans had been great, but when morning came, and they were about to leave, Klaus realized that his army was mostly an army of nightwalkers. They would obviously perish in the sun and, therefore, they had to wait until the sun had set to go ahead with the plan. While Bella felt fine, he and Kol still wanted her to take it easy for the day and spend the day on the couch, much to her dismay.

To make Bella feel better, or he thought that it would make her feel better, Klaus had invited KJ inside the house. KJ had proven to be a great vampire, loyal and diligent, primarily climbing the ranks and became the first in command after Klaus and Sam. As it happened, Kol Jasper Mikaelson had been the last of the brood that Bella had seen born and Klaus wanted him as a vampire, so he had something to remember Bella and his brother by. KJ didn't even remember his great-great-grandparents and called Kol just that, but Bella remembered him as a baby. It would matter to her.

KJ, on the other hand, didn't want to do what Klaus told him to do. He and this girl had nothing in common but a bloodline, and it was simply ridiculous of his sire - great-great-great-uncle if you had to be precise - to ask him to talk to her. Whispers had gone through the ranks about this girl, saying that the girl was inhabited by the greatest witch ever, but one look at the tiny human on the couch made him think otherwise. Most Celebrated witch ever? How about no?

"You look just like your father," Bella snorted as the vampire awkwardly looked at her. "Although you seem to have your mother's eyes."

"I'm not fucking Harry Potter," KJ grumbled as he shoved his hands in his pockets and stared at the floor.

Bella looked up to Kol with a grin. "And he's got your potty mouth."

"I don't know, Darling, yours wasn't exactly rainbows and sunshine either," he smirked at her and nodded towards KJ. "Look at that, he has the Swan 'ignoring the world' trait."

"We should stop embarrassing the kid," she said as she looked at the boyish-looking vampire. "I'm sorry. It just had to be done."

KJ huffed.

"Do you like being a vampire?"

He shrugged for an answer and then nodded as he kept his eyes fixed on the floor. He didn't want this. He wanted out. Just mind his own business. There was this human girl in Mystic Falls that had enthralled him, and he wanted to stalk her some more before quite possibly ending up as werewolf food.

"You don't have to be here if you don't want to," Bella smiled at him, noticing his unease, his impatience. "I know Klaus made you come in. You can leave if you want to, no harm done."

KJ nodded before turning on his heels and spat out of the house, causing Bella to laugh. "Oh, he's cute."

"Of course he's cute, he's one of ours."

Grinning, Bella pulled Kol onto the couch with her and softly kissed him as she crawled into his lap. "I love you, you know that, right?" She said after she had broken off the kiss and ran her hand through his hair as she looked at him.

"And I love you, Cuddles," he grinned as he kissed her forehead. "Is this another cheese session?"

"Depends," she said with a shrug and sighed as she looked at him. "I just want you to know that in whatever body I'm in, that I'll always love you."

"Are you thinking about jumping into someone else or have someone cast that spell on you?"

She slowly nodded as she bit her lip. "I doubt that this one is a keeper seeing as your blood made me vomit. You won't be able to turn me."

"Well, let's call that a plan B, alright? I don't want to interrupt another person's life just so that my wife can stay with me forever. As much as I like the idea, I also know what it's like to be human. It's too precious for tricks like these." He then scrunched up his nose and shuddered. "I can't believe I just said that. I'm not supposed to care about humans. They're food."

"Don't you think I know that?" A small smile on her face for Kol's internal debate with himself. "I want to stay with you and I believe that's the only option, how wrong it may be. I deserve to be selfish about this. I don't want to go."

"We'll figure it out. Once you have access to your books again and our things in our crypt, we'll figure it out. It's likely that the witches use magic to limit your options. We'll have to find out what and who, and we'll fix it, I promise. I'm selfish like that too, you know. I want you to stay."

"Cheese."

"You started it," he stuck out his tongue to her.

"Speaking of our crypt, I made a little trip there when I was in New Orleans. I needed to pick something up for us," she said as she fumbled something out of her pocket and held it up with a big smile on her face.

"Oh, you are fucking brilliant, I felt naked without it!" he said in awe as he gently took her ring and smirked. "Give me your hand Cuddles, let's do this properly."

 **[Mystic Falls, VA. Former Salvatore Boarding House. January 24th, 2311. 3:11 pm.]**

She had been dozing in Kol's arms on the couch when fighting awoke them. Bella sat up and rubbed her eyes and saw that Sam was attacking both Elijah and Rebekah, who had decided to return with Caroline. Klaus was standing at a safe distance with a self-absorbed smirk on his face and Caroline looked enthralled as if she was watching the fight of the century.

"Oh," Kol cooed as he got off the couch and put the blankets around Bella. "We're in trouble now; Elijah and Rebekah are back."

"Hardly," Klaus huffed as he watched how his Sameen landed a few good punches against Elijah's jaw. "Sameen, love, don't piss him off, I'd like to keep you alive."

Sam growled as her vampire visage had bled out, and she was positioned ready for another attack. "Oh I don't think I'm the one that has to worry right now considering how pissed off I've been at this fucker for the last three centuries..."

Elijah dramatically sighed as he grabbed Sam's throat and pushed her away from him, holding her at arm's length. "Brother, glad to see nothing has changed."

She smirked at him, raising an eyebrow. "You don't know anything dickhead. It would be wise to let go about now."

Smirking, Elijah kept hold of her as he eyed his brother Kol, who had naturally secured himself a whore. "I see you've managed to resurrect our brother too, welcome back, brother."

Rebekah squealed as she ran to Kol and hugged him tightly. "Oh, this is fantastic, the whole family reunited."

Bella got up from the couch and just looked at the scene before her. Rebekah was hugging Kol, Sam dangling from Elijah's hold on her neck and Klaus as if nothing was going on, leaning against the wall with that egotistical smirk on his face. What was worse was that Kol didn't even flinch as he hugged his sister, welcoming her back with open arms. Scowling, Bella looked at Klaus. "Hey, asshole, your mate is about to get killed by your brother. Do something about it or I will."

Sameen's smirk grew into a broad grin. "Time is up Dick. It has been fun," she purred as she used her strength, unusual even for a vampire of her caliber, but not for her training, to break his wrist and kicked him in the gut. Swiftly, she grabbed the stakes she kept hidden in her boot and threw them at him, catching them in his chest, just missing his heart. "Guess the cat is out of the bag. Don't you dare lay a hand on me again and I'll break more than your wrist. Original dick face," she muttered and moved to stand beside Klaus.

Elijah sighed as he pulled out the stakes. "Mate?" He blinked at his brother as he gently placed the stakes on the dresser next to him before cleaning his hand with his handkerchief before his eye fell upon Bella again. "Excuse me, but this is a family matter, could you leave?"

"She is family," Sameen sneered before anyone could. "Could you say the same?"

"Now, love, be nice to my brother," Klaus said as he caressed her back. "He's more than welcome to stay, as long as he stays out of our business."

"He hasn't earned my kindness," she muttered as she narrowed her eyes. "I will be watching him. And the bitch."

"I can't believe you're just welcoming them back like that," Bella spat at Klaus before giving Kol a shove to get him away from Rebekah. "They've abandoned you for centuries and because of that, you fucked things up! That was not part of the deal, and it was undoubtedly unfair towards Sam. You need to kick them out."

"It's fine, love," Klaus smirked, deliberately not calling her Bella. He knew that he was in the wrong with accepting their return, but family was family. "Always and Forever, remember?"

"More like…Only when it suits them and Never," She growled as she moved herself between Kol and Rebekah.

"Whores, always such a big mouth," Rebekah said as she grabbed Bella by her shoulders, lifted her up and set her outside the door. She then closed the door in her face before returning to her family. "You sure know how to pick them, Kol."

Sam tsked the Original vampire and shook her head. "That was not a smart move Barbie. You have no idea who the hell you just kicked out. I really do not wish to be in your shoes right now," she smiled as she leaned her head against her mate's shoulder.

Kol scowled at his sister. "She's not a whore and well…" he then smirked as he moved so he was standing next to Klaus and mirrored his stance. "This is going to be quite entertaining."

Bella was fuming after Rebekah closed the door on her and didn't even bother to open the door normally. She blasted it off it's hinges as she walked back into the house and shot her hands out towards Elijah and Rebekah to cause them severe pain as she kept advancing. "You are not family, not after what you've two haven't done. You know how volatile your brother is, and you know the effect you have on them. Yes, I understand your need for freedom and a breather but to leave for nearly 300 years without so much of an attempt a follow-up? You should know better than that!"

"Oh, of course," Elijah groaned as he had fallen to the floor as pain shot through his body, unable to stay upright. "My brother loves his witches, didn't know they came as prostitutes."

"Really should stop while you're ahead, Dick," Sam sang.

Klaus had sighed before he growled out with irritation at the insult. "There only ever was one witch for Kol. You know this Elijah."

"Refer to her as something other than a woman again, I will find the daggers and dagger you both," Kol evenly replied as he looked at Bella, loving the fire in her eyes. She looked so hot; maybe she could be talked into having sex when she was done playing with his siblings.

Sam looked up at Nik thoughtfully. "Isn't there one white oak stake left? We can play eeny meeny miney moe. Though right now my money is on Dick."

"Now now, we do not kill family, love," Klaus said as he gently rubbed her arm. "Daggering is an option though. Shame all the daggers are in New Orleans."

"Well fuck me," she pouted.

"Gladly," he smirked.

Bella released Rebekah and Elijah and then slammed both of them against the wall and kept them there so she could look at them. "You're no family of mine and you haven't been family to Klaus either. We'll forgive Kol because he's only been back for thirty years, but you are no family. You should have come back and stayed back as soon as I died." She released them again before giving them one last smack against the wall and walked to Kol. "You can stay for as long as we need you, then you can fuck off again."

"That was so hot," Kol said with a big, stupid grin on his face. "Do it again."

"I'm not that cruel."

"I might be willing to switch teams for another show," Sam agreed with Kol, grinning. Klaus and his brother both looked to one another, their interest raised significantly at the possibilities in the statement.

Bella sighed. "Okay then," she shrugged and flung the two Originals across the room. "You ask, I'll do it."

As the two vampires laid groaning on the other end of the room, Sam made her way over to Bella with a smile. She winked as she lifted her chin and leaned in, kissing her.

Bella had not expected that Sam would actually go for it, but decided to play along with it, just to fuck with Kol's head, she knew he liked this kind of stuff.

"Fuck," Kol breathed out as he watched his wife answer the kiss of Klaus' mate. "Fuck…"

Klaus canted his head as he stared along with his brother, too mesmerized by the sight. It wasn't the first time he had witnessed his mate seduce a woman but to see her with his sister-in-law; that was another story. "We shall never speak of this again, but I think from now on, if Sameen desires the companionship of a woman, I will only allow Isabella."

"Your bloody mate is insane Nik," Rebekah moaned as she pushed herself up from the floor.

"Oh Bex, you haven't even tipped that iceberg," Kol cheered. "Still, I have to admit, Nik chose a bloody hot nut although I prefer mine."

"Impossible," Elijah breathed as he straightened himself up and looked at the young woman, who looked nothing like the Isabella he once knew. Was this a descendant from Kol and their Isabella? "You married your own blood simply because her name is similar to your dead wife's?"

Bella growled as she slammed a chair against Elijah. "Three hundred years, and still oblivious to what's right in front of you."

"Bella?" Rebekah blinked. "Who in their right mind would resurrect you?"

She shrugged. "I'm here to make sure your asses can enter New Orleans again and then help out the coven." She leaned against Kol and sighed. "But I meant what I said, you can stay for as long as we need you. Then you can fuck off again."

 **[New Orleans, LA. Obama Street. January 25th, 2311. 3:23 am.]**

The taxi she had wanted to take to the landfill refused to take her there, a computer voice citing that that area was known for violence and the lack of respect of everyone else's property. The company had lost many taxis there and wasn't planning on losing another. Besides, it was in the middle of the night, who in their right mind would want to venture into that area?

It felt strange for her to walk in this area of New Orleans. Not so much due to the threat of violence or whatever, but more because this part hadn't existed yet in its current incarnation. It had been an industrial area and some marshlands along the waterway, and now it was one solid landmass. They had filled it all up with sand to create more space to live before they had raised New Orleans to protect it from the floods.

The Eastern part of New Orleans had been hit by Katrina and had been underdeveloped in the past, but now that there was more land, they needed to fill it up. However, the years hadn't been kind; the houses looked shabby, especially under the cover of night and she had to admit, she didn't quite like the atmosphere. Sure, it felt warm and cozy and friendly, but she could also notice that she was someone new in the area, everyone she met looked at her with suspicion. She didn't want to ask them why they were up this late. She knew that she was in a bad neighborhood, she had expected it to be, but there were simply too many people on the streets for this to be a coincidence.

Did the Bennett witches have a seer on their side? They were working with the wolves, weren't they?

She could have gone the easy way and cast the invisibility spell she had used earlier this week with Mandy, but she had to walk quite the distance and she had a big spell to cast. She wanted to save her energy. Walking around with her shield up cost a minimum amount of energy, and it would give her enough time to respond should she get into trouble. She had spent a lot of energy during the day when Elijah and Rebekah returned home, courtesy of Caroline Forbes, who went out and found them, and she needed to preserve the rest of her strength.

Bella felt like shit but hadn't told anyone. She needed to do this for them and didn't want them to worry. On top of that, Kol would come and get her as soon as the barrier was down. She was going to help them take back the city from the wolves and then assist the witches with their problem.

Sameen had given her a small device, 'the new way of communicating', she had said. Her and Klaus' friend kept telling Bella to maintain a low profile but other than keeping her head down and continue walking; she didn't quite know how. But at least their friend could tell them when the barrier was down, and that was comforting.

When she turned the corner to get closer to her destination, an entire pack of wolves was on the street, and they saw her coming. Bella inwardly groaned. "Is there another way?" She asked softly and looked at her device for an answer, but it stayed quiet. "Figures," she muttered as she shoved it in her pocket and straightened herself up, expanding her shield just a little as she continued to walk.

Bella wasn't afraid of those wolves. She could easily take them, it was just that she didn't want to take them, only because they'd alert more of them. They would chase her all over the Ninth Ward or at least until she arrived at her destination if luck weren't on her side. She didn't want that to happen. Besides, if any one of them would realize what she was and what she had planned, they would come after her anyway.

"Where are you going, little girl?"

Bella deeply sighed as she kept on walking, getting off the sidewalk and onto the street because the group wasn't scattering. It was tempting to do something, at least but counted quietly to ten in her head as she focussed on her breathing. Could she chance to fight them off? Should she? She told herself to breathe but the wolves, youngsters, came after her and kept catcalling her for a good ten minutes before she exploded. "Where the fuck are your manners? Were you raised with the wolves?"

This caused the youngsters to laugh maniacally, and she kept on walking. She had to keep on walking because that was the best way to do it. But, of course, it was dark, and it was inevitable that she'd eventually trip over something, which she did; a damn loose tile on the sidewalk she got on after crossing the road. She fell on the ground, hearing something break but wasn't quite sure what yet and how her shield collapsed in on herself.

With her defenses down, it didn't take long for one of the wolves getting the jump on her. He grabbed her by her shoulders and pressed her down to the ground. "Get off me," she said as she was suddenly aware that her ankle had snapped as the pain radiated through her leg before it died down again. Breaks were the suckiest because they prevented things from happening. She'd cast a tiny spell later to allow herself to continue walking properly as a temporary fix, but even that would wear off.

"Ah, no," the boy said as he used his strength to keep her down. "You have the smell of witch all over you," he moved his face closer to hers and sniffed her before licking her cheek. "You smell different."

Bella tried hard not to shudder as she felt how he licked her cheek, that was just rancid and attempted to squirm out of his hold. He retaliated by grabbing both wrists and pin them over her head with one hand, the strength he had in his body keeping them in place. When he started to unzip his pants, her eyes widened in surprise and panic and decided that she needed to stop being such an energy conserving wuss.

This was unbecoming behavior and so unlike her. She was going to do the big spell later, drained or not, because it's what she'd promised her husband and Klaus, and she needed to be alive for that. And she needed at least one hand free to use her magic. Growling, she sucked in a deep breath and kneed the wolf in his private parts before using the surprise to kick him off of her. She scrambled to her feet, noticing once again that her ankle was truly broken and froze him, and all the other wolves, in place as she limped away. The spell would break eventually but by then, she hoped to be done.

Klaus was going to owe her big time.

 **[New Orleans, LA. Old Gentilly Landfill. January 25th, 2311. 4:01 am.]**

She had cast a minor spell to diffuse her scent as she continued her way to the landfill, even a minor one to temporarily fix her ankle. By the time she got to the point where she would cast her spell, she was exhausted. Bella sat down in the dirt and unpacked her bag with all the herbs and items she was going to need. After switching on her light, she started to assemble the spell.

[Message: I've informed Shaw about your location.]

Growling, she set the device on the floor next to her after it started to vibrate in her pocket. "Oh yeah? What else did you say?"

[Message: There's no other information to discuss.]

"Good, let's keep it that way," she said as she poured the first ingredient into the bowl. "Now shut up." She didn't know how Sam's friend could hear her when it was only communicating by text messages, but she figured it was some hacker who had hacked into cameras and things like that. Right now, she was grateful that the friend hadn't told them about her little misadventure. The vampires needed to stay focused and take out as many werewolves as they could on their trip to the French Quarter where they had to fight off some more.

Once she had assembled all the essentials, she spoke again. "Tell them to get in the car, I'm going to cast the spell now."

[Message: Affirmative. ETA: 5 minutes.]

"What? Those cars go that fast?"

[Message: Correct.]

"Tell them three minutes from now," she huffed as she rolled her shoulders and neck, trying to relax some. She put up her shield again and took a deep breath. She could do this. She was Bella Freaking Swan. Kick ass witch. People were depending on her. She was going to do this spell even if it would kill her. "Now shut up again."

 **[New Orleans, LA. Old Gentilly Landfill. January 25th, 2311. 4:12 am.]**

He had feared this would happen. While he was grateful that he was back in New Orleans, thanks to his beloved wife, he knew that it was going to take its toll on her. It probably already had, and he hoped she was going to be fine. But when he came to the spot, he saw her unconscious body lying in the middle of what looked like a puppy pile.

Kol was just in time to stop one of them from defiling her unconscious state as he mowed through the group. He sent them flying as he hit them with the baseball bat he had found on the streets on the way to her. He listened for her heartbeat as he whacked a few wolves in the head with his metal bat and was relieved to hear her heart still beating. Slow and steady. At least she was still alive.

Once he was sure he had fought most of them off, surprisingly he didn't get bit, he grabbed the one on top of his love and sunk his teeth into him. Showing everyone what he was, if the exceptional strength and speed hadn't given it away, before draining the body and dropping it to the ground. The others who were still standing had decided not to fight him, which was preferable.

Kol grabbed some of Bella's belongings and put them in her bag before lifting her up and continued heading towards the French Quarter where his brother was headed too. They had agreed to reconvene at the statue of Joan of Arc, as it was a spot they all knew, and it was right on the edge of werewolf territory.

Of course, Bella's presence in the Ninth Ward hadn't stayed unnoticed. As he ran with her across Obama Street, he had to dodge several werewolves or smack them with his bat to keep them out of his way. It was late, what the hell were they doing up this late? Had they been alerted that something was going on? By whom? Well, that was a question he could quickly answer; it were the Bennett witches. No one ever said that taking back New Orleans would be easy but he wished it was, and he wished that his wife was in good health.


	11. This is not a test

**[City of the Dead, LaFayette Cemetery 1, New Orleans, LA. February 20th, 2020. 11:31 pm.]**

Because the locator spell was cast by three powerful witches, it was fast and accurate, and it showed the children to be the deep in the Bayou. It was fairly obvious why they had been taken there, whoever took the children, wanted the protection from the werewolves.

"Let's go," Klaus growled as he started to barge out of the building followed by Bella and Kol.

"I can help, let me help, please," Davina said as she ran after the group. "I- I think I am responsible for this. I should have put an end to it before-"

"What?" Klaus turned around as he sneered at her. "What did you do, little witch?"

Her eyes shifted between the three faces in front of her as she rubbed her neck. "I uh… some witches and I had a brainstorming session on how to hurt you the most and um…" Davina stammered as she looked at the floor, ready for whatever came her way. "Some of my witches are quite fanatic and… they might have suggested taking the girls and…" her eyes flickered up, and she defensively held up her hands. "I shot them down, immediately. It's not what I do. They don't have anything to do with my beef with you."

"Who are they?" Kol asked as he narrowed his eyes on her.

"Ahvitahl and Aixa, but I swear, I told them to stop it!" She replied with a squeaky voice, panicked, but slightly relieved when Klaus' expression turned less hostile. At this point, she was happy that the hybrid could tell if someone was lying to him.

"You're staying here, Davina," Bella finally spoke up, her fists clenched so tightly that her knuckles had turned white. "You have done enough, but I'm not done with you yet," she then turned around and followed Klaus and Kol out of the building. She was going to give her a piece of her mind later, what was more important that they were going to get the girls back.

He knew of Ahvitahl and Aixa, two members of the Ninth Ward Coven, who tended to be a bit more radical than other covens. His least favourite coven as well. Sure, they had balls and talent, but they needed to be controlled, every witch in that coven and Davina clearly didn't have the respect to exert that control. Kol was going to make sure that once this was over, once they had the kids back, he was going to end the entire coven. It would make Davina's life easier and the threat to Klaus even less.

Kol drove his and Bella's rental car towards the Bayou while Klaus fumed in the backseat, angered by Davina and frustrated that Kol and Bella weren't vampires so they couldn't get to the Bayou faster. Ahvitahl and Aixa were present at the wedding, and Klaus knew something was off and he didn't do anything about it because they had been invited as a courtesy towards the entirety of the New Orleans Coven. He should have sent them away. Hope and Nina being taken was his fault as much as it was Davina's.

Witches. He hated witches. They couldn't be trusted. The only witches he did trust were his brother and his wife. The rest of them could burn for eternity.

It took them 30 minutes to get to the Bayou; luckily there wasn't any traffic otherwise it would have taken them longer. As soon as they were out of the car, Klaus caught a scent and started to walk off. Sighing, Bella looped her arm through Kol's and followed the hybrid quietly. Once this was over, and once they had pleased Klaus with days of celebrating the wedding, she and Kol were definitely going to take Nina and go away again.

Five minutes into their walk, Klaus stopped walking and sighed. "We have company," he said with a smirk on his face. "Wolves."

"Keep walking," Bella said as she put up a shield around them. "They can't touch us."

"Aw, you're spoiling my fun, little Swan."

"We're not here for fun, Klaus. We're here to get our girls back. Keep walking," she demanded angrily.

He pouted. "And once we have the girls?"

"And when we get our girls, you get to kill a witch. I'll kill the other. And then, while we're walking back to the car, you can go after the wolves, how does that sound?"

An even wider grin appeared on Klaus' face. "You're my new favourite sibling, Isabella," he approved as he continued to walk.

"Hey!" Kol whined. "That was my idea too!"

"I didn't hear you speak up, brother."

As they continued their hunt for the girls and the witches who took them, the wolves tried to advance on them and kept bouncing off the shield. "I thought the wolves were on our side?" Bella asked with a frown on her face.

"Witchcraft, they probably used some magic to have the wolves protect them. It's easy. Once the werewolves are in their wolf form, their minds are easier to manipulate," Klaus replied as he watched another wolf bounce off the shield. "For instance, they should realize by now that they can't get through but yet, they keep coming. It's fascinating."

After a good twenty minutes, they came upon a cottage that was surrounded by werewolves. "Oh, can I please?" Kol grinned as he stretched out his arm and made a scattering movement with his hand, causing the wolves to run away in fear when something invisible hit them.

"I'll probably won't be able to enter that cabin, but please do throw out one of the witches holding our girls so I can snack?" Klaus asked playfully, thirsty for blood and revenge.

"I promised you a witch, didn't I?" Bella replied as they continued towards the cabin, and she swung open the door with her magic before setting foot inside, followed quickly by Kol. The cabin was a one room cabin, sparsely decorated with a table, a couch and a bed. There was also a small kitchenette and a burning fireplace and two witches, she assumed Ahvitahl and Aixa, who looked dumbstruck.

"Mommy!" Nina cheered as she ran over to her mother and clung to her for life. "Bad people."

"I know sweetie," Bella protectively put her arm around her daughter and created a shield around her and Hope while she looked at the two frightened witches. "You have no idea what you got yourself into, ladies," she said in a low, threatening voice. "Going after _my_ child? _My_ niece?"

Kol took hold of Hope and held her close, as he worryingly looked at Bella. She was pissed off, so was he, but there were kids present, she would not like it if Klaus would shed blood in front of the children. He wanted to shed blood, but Bella would not appreciate it and it wasn't his desire to spend his wedding night on the couch.

"We have no business with you," Ahvitahl piped up, readying herself to cast a spell to shoot at the fuming hybrid outside. "Our deal is with the hybrid."

"No, your deal is with _me_!" Bella said as she used her magic to push Aixa into Klaus' waiting arms. Klaus caught her as if he was a dog with a treat and turned round the corner to sink his teeth into her, out of sight from the children. "You took my child; it made it my business!"

"Bella, calm down," Kol gently said as he looked at his wife. "Why don't you take the girls outside?"

"Why don't you take the girls outside?" Bella shot at Kol before focusing her attention on Ahvitahl, casting a spell at the witch that would make her feel as if she was burning up from the inside, much like she'd hurt a vampire. The girl collapsed on the floor as she screamed in agony, her hands were in her hair, almost as if she was trying to contain the fire within. It was all an illusion, of course, but it felt real and Bella had to admit, she loved seeing the young witch struggle so much.

"Bella, stop, you don't want Nina to see this," Kol said as he muttered a tiny spell to temporarily blind the girls. He was angry too, livid, even, but what about the girls? They were too young to witness this; even Klaus went out of sight to feed on the other witch.

"I can't see!" Nina cried out as she stomped her feet. "Mommy! I can't see!"

Thinking that the squirming witch had blinded her daughter, Bella stopped the spell currently affecting her and slammed her into the wall. "Why the fuck did you think that going after kids was a good idea?" She spat. "Yes, you can hurt Klaus the most by going after his family but the kids are fucking off limits!"

"Mommy! I can't see! Daddy!"

"Stop that," Bella growled at the witch as she slumped to the floor. "Don't ever cast a spell on my child."

"I'm not doing it! I swear!" Ahvitahl said defensively, rubbing her head as she got to her feet. This caused Bella to snap her head towards Kol and narrowed her eyes at him.

"Stop," Kol said calmly.

"You stop."

"No, you stop."

"Don't make me fight you."

"I don't even want to fight you, but you have to stop, what will Nina say to people? 'Mommy killed a person'?"

"I don't care!"

"Well, I do. Stop this now."

With the two newlyweds bickering, Ahvitahl tried to make it out of the cabin but the hybrid blocked her way, Aixa's blood was all over his face and his clothes as he smirked at her. "I could go for seconds," he said playfully.

"Unun!" Nina cried out. "I can't see!"

"Don't worry, love," Klaus spoke gently. "I'm sure your father will remove the spell soon enough."

"You did that?" Bella fumed at Kol. "You put a spell on our daughter?" She said as she pushed him with her free hand. "You fucker! Cancel the spell now!"

"No."

"I'll do it," Hope said shrugging and waved her hand, smiling when she could see again. She let go of her uncle Kol and ran to her father, hugging him tightly. "Thank you for coming for us, daddy."

Nina blinked as she got used to seeing again and could now see her parents fight. She let out a deep breath and noticed that no one was keeping an eye on the evil woman who had taken her and Hopey. The woman had a jar in her hands and was ready to throw it at them, and she wasn't sure what would happen, but it could be bad. She let go of her mother and put up her hands, just as she had seen her mother and father do often enough. "No!" the little girl screamed from the top of her lungs causing the adults look at her.

The jar in Ahvitahl's hands shattered but the contents did not fall to the floor. Instead, the shards and the things in it flew up into the face of the witch. The glass sliced her face and the contents of the jar settled inside the cuts. It took a few seconds, but the herbs exploded in tiny little sparks before igniting a fire. The witch stumbled backwards against the drapes as she screamed, the flames already licking the walls of the small cabin.

Bella had been too enthralled with what was happening to notice that the fire was actually spreading quite fast and only moved when Kol was pulling her and Nina out of the cabin. Nina giggled as she saw the cabin go up in flames. "Cool!"

Klaus checked the girls over as Bella and Kol were still calming down from their fight. For a moment there, he had feared for his brother's life, Bella had been consumed by her anger and if he had, to be honest, he was so proud of her. She was a Mikaelson alright; she was going to fit right in with the rest of them. Here he and Kol were, trying to save their children from seeing their parents shed blood. Only because Bella would not like it and she wanted to do shed it instead, there had been absolutely no control, and that was fantastic.

Nina was still giggling as her uncle pat her down and checked her for any cuts or bruises. "That was fun, Unun."

"Was it, love?" he smiled at her.

She nodded as she pulled off her shirt and pushed it against his face to clean up the blood a little, or at least make an attempt to as she nearly fell over. "Again?"

"Again what, love?" Klaus smiled at her as he took her shirt and cleaned his face. She was like her mother in that, always wanting to clean up the blood, and he didn't mind humoring the little girl.

"Find new bad people. Make them fiery angels."

He wanted to reply with 'maybe when you're older' but Kol had overheard the conversation. "Absolutely not, Nina," he said as he lifted the girl in his arms. "However, daddy is so proud of you! How about we go back home and get a nice long sleep?"

Nina shook her head. "They ruined the day!"

"That's okay," he said soothingly. "What's important is that we have you two back, all right?"

"Okay."

 **[Accessing current feeds]**

 **[New Orleans, LA. Decatur Street. January 25th, 2311. 5:01 am.]**

They had been waiting a good fifteen minutes for the arrival of Klaus and most of his army at the Joan of Arc statue. Kol had insisted that he would be going off on his own to get to Bella. It was faster and more under the radar, but to wait for the cavalry to arrive in the middle - that's right, not on the edge but right in the middle - of werewolf territory and try to stay unnoticed, was quite the task with an unconscious witch in his arms.

Her heartbeat had started to pick up a little bit, which delighted him as that meant that she was perking up. Her broken ankle wasn't difficult to miss, he had observed it swell even further while they were resting out of sight. Kol was going to kill the witches who were interfering with his wife's health. He couldn't give her his blood to heal, and he wouldn't want to risk anyone else's blood either because having her go through another round of vomiting all day was out of the question.

It was fortunate that it didn't seem like the werewolf population had reached the French Quarter just yet. Or at least, the streets were quiet, and it was rather safe for Bella at the moment. He didn't care much for himself; he'd survive a wolf attack, but one wrong move made by him could cause him to lose Bella.

When he heard some noise, he popped up to see what was going on and was glad to see his siblings accompanied by surprisingly a still large quantity of vampires. If Kol had to be honest, he hadn't expected much from their rush job in creating as many as possible, but he was impressed. "Well done, brother, you managed to keep most of them alive."

Klaus huffed. "I don't know what they're teaching the wolves these days, but they were easy."

"They haven't had a challenge for fifty years, of course they think that certain things require not a lot of effort," Elijah quietly replied as he was cleaning his hands with his faithful white handkerchief. Kol wondered if his brother would still use a cloth to clean his hands if the cloth weren't white, or would it send him into a mild panic attack?

Kol huffed as he twirled his baseball bat that was now covered with werewolf blood. "Tell that to the wolves in the Ninth Ward, it's mental out there."

"How is she?"

"She'll be fine," Kol replied as he gently lifted Bella into his arms again, holding her safely with him as she served as a bat holder. "Give her a little more time."

Rebekah growled as she took a few steps towards Kol and his wife as she bit into her hand. "Just feed her your blood, you idiot."

"No!" Klaus pulled his sister back as Kol turned Bella away from her. "We do not feed her our blood if we want her at least somewhat capable of doing spells. We have been down this road before."

Sam eyed the exchange and impatiently started to go ahead. She had so much adrenaline surging through her body from the fights, and she wanted more. The Machine had helped them navigate through most of the area, and Klaus had been right, they hadn't been met with much resistance. Sam couldn't help but think that the Machine looked out for most of the vampires, still that preservative nature of hers. Most of the vampires had been created for the sole purpose to not survive. What were they going to do with them once this was all over? Send them off to live happily ever after?

"Where do you think you're going?" Rebekah questioned his brother's mate.

"Home," Sam muttered. "What else? You want to stick around here? We're in a vast open space, everyone can see us. We're going home." she absentmindedly waved in the direction of Bella. "The girl will be fine."

Rebekah huffed as she looked at her brother, confused as he followed his mate's lead. "Nik?"

"Sameen's right, let's go home."

 **[New Orleans, LA. Royal Street. January 25th, 2311. 5:13 am.]**

"Heads up," Sam said as she rounded the corner onto Royal Street. "They've been alerted to our presence."

Klaus huffed as he saw the row of werewolves standing in front of the Abattoir. "They don't want to give us our home back, what a pity."

"I guess we'll have to make them," Kol smirked, itching for another fight but realized that he still had Bella in his arms. Then there was the case of an excessive amount of vampires behind them to do the fighting for them. "Eh. Send in the calvary, I think she's coming to."

"Good," Klaus said approvingly.

The group made quick work of the werewolves. These were a little bit tougher than the ones they had encountered before. The probable reason was that the other wolves had become too domestic; these were trained and harder to kill, but more fun to kill too. He stayed out of range of flying limbs and bodies as he gently caressed Bella's cheek. "We're about to take our home back, are you going to help us, Cuddles?"

Bella let out a soft groan as she slowly opened her eyes.

"Hello," he smiled at her. "I promise I won't put you down on your feet but once we're done, we're going to set that ankle of yours."

She shook her head almost as if she was in slow motion and sighed. "Doctor. Hospital. Anything."

"We'll see what we can do," Kol said as he brushed her hair out of her face. "Seeing as we're in the middle of taking back New Orleans, I doubt there'll be-"

"We'll get her the help she needs, Kol," Klaus' voice could be heard. "Don't be such a twat."

Bella managed to get a victorious smile on her face as she looked at Kol. "He likes me better than you."

"No, you're ridiculously helpless right now, that's all."

Klaus watched as his siblings ran towards the entrance of their home and hung back, just like Sameen. Both were watching in fascination as they managed to get a few feet inside before getting ejected from the building again, causing both of them to land flat on their ass in the street. The look on their faces was quite entertaining. "Niklaus, what is this?" Elijah demanded as he got up and dusted himself off as if nothing had happened. "We've never had a problem entering our home before after you put the deed back into your name."

"Did I?"

"Don't play games, brother, we are very close to regaining our home. All we need is to round up the witches and werewolves inside that building, and we're home," Elijah pointed at the Compound to make his words count.

"If you'd taken a good look first, brother," Klaus sneered as he nodded towards the entrance. "You'd see that the witches have boobytrapped the entire place. Going in without thinking straight would certainly end up in more casualties and damage to the building."

Sam pulled a device out of her pocket and shook it with a smile on her face before activating it and threw it through the entrance to the courtyard before it set off a small charge. "All technological traps have now been deactivated. Most of their personal devices won't work either so they can't call for more backup." She walked over to Kol and started to pull Bella out of his arms. "Come on, Super Witch, time to do your thing. Kick them out and get us inside."

"Don't let her walk!"

Sam smirked at Kol as he handed her over and pretended to drop her, causing Bella to giggle as she put her arms around Sam's neck. "Are you up for this?" she asked as she brought Bella to the entrance. "I'll be right here to catch you should you pass out again."

"I'll try not to," Bella promised and looked over Sam's shoulder to see Klaus. "Be ready for whatever comes out of this place, okay?"

"Don't worry, love, we're ready," he said with a hungry smile on his face. "Simply round them up and kick them out."

She had done the spell a few times over the years after Klaus insisted that she'd learn it by heart for situations like these. Granted, she had been on full power back then, and she was currently only a little charged, but she could do the spell. Clean the entire place out of supernatural messes, people and spells protecting the compound. It had been a thing of beauty to develop together with Kol, making the spell elegant and thorough.

"Sam, could you get me up on the first-floor balcony? You're invited to come in, of course," Bella whispered in her ear, loving the confused faces of Rebekah and Elijah. She then cast a small spell that allowed the both of them to remain undetected for a short period.

"Of course," Sam said as she threw Bella over her shoulder and ran around the corner before climbing the drain. Once having reached the balcony, she quietly opened the door and checked to see if the room was empty before walking Bella towards the walkway and hid her behind a pillar. "Will you be okay?" she whispered. "I don't want to get a headache when you revoke my access again."

Bella smiled at her and nodded. "Thanks, have fun."

"Oh, I will." Sam grinned before making her way out the same way as she got in.

As Bella was holding on to the pillar, she could feel her own energy buzz through the stone, it was a pleasant feeling that some of her old spells were still active. They had been minor repair spells, but it would be enough for her to tap into it to do the spell. She didn't want to move because she refused to cast a spell to temporarily heal her ankle again. It was useless, she had only made it worse by using it to full control as she was running from the wolves earlier.

She put up her shield for protection as the spell she cast earlier wore off and had started to alert the witches and wolves. She retrieved a small plastic bag filled with ground up Wolfsbane and Lobelia flower and scattered it on the balustrade, careful not to touch the Lobelia flower herself as it'd weaken her even further.

Next was lighting a match; she needed the fire to purify the building of all witchcraft, including her old spells. It would be as if they'd begin with a clean slate, which wasn't always that bad. Bella started to mutter the spell, creating a dust cloud of her herbs and sent it on its way. It was supposed to weave through every room and affect every wolf and witch in the building. She then lit a match and dropped it to create a fireball, safe for furniture, but it'd go after every supernatural being inside the home, except for her. Everyone had it programmed inside of their genetic makeup; fire bad. Run.

She thought she'd be more under attack from the witches by now, but they were freaking out as the fire kept growing, and Bella heard some spells being cast to try and kill the fire, but it didn't work. She couldn't help but let out a maniacal cackle before she started on the next portion of the spell, which wasn't much of a spell. "My name is Isabella Marie Mikaelson-Swan. My name is on the deed of this building, and I hereby revoke all access to all supernatural beings not having my name. Get the fuck out of my house!" She could feel how her shield expanded outward and started pushing people out, they didn't have a choice anymore. They had to leave.

Once everyone was out, Bella had to focus, she needed to invite people back in, but it sounded like they were too busy snacking downstairs for them to hear the invitation. When it stopped, she spoke again. "Kol, Klaus and Sam, please come inside. If Stefan and Damon are with you, they can come too. The rest just has to find a different place to rest up."

"Hey!" Rebekah whined. "What about me?"

"Maybe tomorrow! Payback for calling me a whore!" Bella yelled as she slid down the pillar and sighed happily. She was home, and she could nap now.


	12. Unsaid Things

**[The Abattoir, French Quarter, New Orleans. February 21st, 2020. 8:32 am]**

Everyone was still asleep; after they had returned from getting the girls back, their guests were relieved and after some debriefing, everyone retreated to their rooms to sleep. No matter how much Klaus insisted on taking Nina for the night, Bella refused. Yes, it was their wedding night, but she didn't care. Nina wasn't going anywhere.

She had changed into something more comfortable than her wedding dress, but she'd been awake all night, drinking coffee while watching over Nina, who was sleeping in Kol's arms. She was still pissed off, and she knew they couldn't really do anything about Davina and her power kick seeing as Davina was the regent, but they were sure going to try. Things could go very badly if she couldn't even control her witches or at least gain the respect that she required as a regent.

Sighing, she decided to get some breakfast for her family and quietly put on some shoes before leaving the room, the sun blinding her as she stepped out into the courtyard. Letting out a groan that sounded pretty much like a zombie's moan, she made her way to the kitchens and started to prepare breakfast. On the other hand, when she opened the fridge, she noticed that there was still a significant amount of cake left, she thought that would be the best breakfast ever.

Bella triumphantly returned to the room with the cake and some tea and noticed that Nina was no longer in bed. "Nina? Where are you?" She asked as she set their breakfast down on the table and grew worried when Nina didn't respond. "Nina?" She walked into the bathroom but found it empty, and she felt how panic started to rise in her chest. "Nina!" She walked back into the room and saw her baby girl digging into the cake with her hands. "Where were you?"

"Bed," Nina giggled as she grabbed a handful of cake and brought it to her mouth. "No worries."

"Well, I did, don't hide from mommy again, okay? Unless we're playing a game, we both agreed to play."

"Okay."

Kol snorted as he sat up. "I can confirm that she's been in bed with me the entire time."

Bella eyed her husband suspiciously.

"Bella, she stepped on my - well, let's just say she wanted to sabotage our efforts to make future siblings," he said laughing. "She made herself invisible."

"It's not funny," Bella said as tears were streaming down her face. "We nearly lost her last night and then she was gone and I just… I don't want to be here anymore, Kol. I want us to go."

"Come here," he gently said as he pulled her onto the bed and into his arms. "No one is going to go after our little girl ever again," he started to caress her back. "Have you slept at all?"

Bella shook her head as she clung on to him.

"You're going to sleep. I'll take Nina to the zoo with your parents. Maybe Klaus will come with with Hope, and you're going to rest."

"But…"

"She'll be safe, I promise," he laid down on the bed with her and ran his hand through her hair. "Go to sleep." Kol held her until he was sure that she was asleep and sighed as he looked at his toddler, now covered in wedding cake. "Don't you look tasty."

"Want?"

"Don't come on the bed, let mommy sleep," he managed to get his arm away from Bella and quietly got off the bed before running over to Nina. He lifted her up and licked her cheek to get some cake off of it. "Hmm…" he hummed as he walked with her towards the bathroom to rinse her off. "Let's try not to turn invisible again, huh?" he asked his daughter. "We'd like to keep our eyes on you."

"Fun!"

"Oh yeah, it's a lot of fun," he grinned. "I used to do that all the time after finding the spell in my mother's grimoire but you, missy, are doing it all by yourself. And that's quite scary."

"Not," Nina blew bubbles as she stood under the spray of water.

"How about you're allowed to turn invisible when either daddy or mommy says so?"

Nina huffed.

"You're too smart for your sake, you know that?" He laughed as he grabbed a washcloth and started to clean her up. He understood how Bella was feeling though; if he hadn't been so exhausted from their wedding day, he would have stayed up all night too. Afraid that someone would come in and take his daughter away, right under their noses.

Maybe it was better for them if they left New Orleans, skip his brother's planned celebrations and Mardi Gras and be free again. Do whatever they wanted to do and not stay in one place. He realized that a lot of people would be unhappy about this, but his family came first. Niklaus still had Elijah and Rebekah and Kol wasn't too worried about him. Yeah, when Bella would wake up again, he was going to talk to her about it.

 **[Accessing current feeds]**

 **[The Abattoir, French Quarter, New Orleans. January 25th, 2311. 2:03 pm]**

Bella woke up to the smell of a lot of the foods she had missed and some decent coffee and smiled at Kol, who was setting the tray on the bed. "Oh, that smells good."

"I found a chef who still cooks with ordinary ingredients and with the knowledge of old fashioned food. I just had to compel him because I was missing pastries," he grinned as he crawled onto the bed and handed Bella an eclair once she sat up. "He's been cooking up a storm since 8 am."

"Have you slept?"

"Of course," he replied as he took a bite off his pastry. "Nik and Sameen are out right now to compel a few workers to clean up the mess in this place and get it back up to our standards. They're also instructing the vampires to start cleaning up the French Quarter from the wolves. There aren't a lot of them."

"Anything I can do?" She moved a little and then hissed; she had forgotten about her ankle.

"Yep, but that can wait," he smiled at her. "You just take your time and get your strength back. We're also bringing in a doctor today to look at your ankle."

"It sucks that I can't handle vampire blood," she said with a pout, not really fancying to walk around with a cast until she'd die again. Now that the adrenaline was out of her system, she could feel how tired her body was after the previous night's excitement.

"We'll figure it out," he kissed the top of her head. "But until then, let's stuff our faces with good food and good coffee."

She finished her eclair and then reached for a Po-boy. "What's the damage? Did they ruin a lot of things in the last fifty years?"

"Nah. Purely cosmetic. Most furniture can be replaced."

"So in what room are we?"

"Our old one, of course. Nik wouldn't have it any other way. When you passed out again last night, we moved stuff into this room to make it roomy for you. The best bed we could find in here and stuff."

"Aw," she smiled as she took another bite of her sandwich. "My boys, looking out for me."

"Always and Forever, Cuddles, you know that," he smiled at her.

 **[The Abattoir, French Quarter, New Orleans. January 25th, 2311. 8:28 pm]**

Bella grumbled as she sat in one of the chairs in the courtyard with her leg resting on the small table. The doctor had been compelled to come to their home and fix her up, and she hated it that her leg was now in a cast. She was staring in the face of Rebekah, who was standing at the entrance to the courtyard and was tired of hearing her beg to come inside. "Could you please shut up, Rebekah? I'm trying to get this home fortified with some spells and I need my concentration."

"Oh, come on, Bella, I thought we were friends! We're family! Let me in!"

"No," she said quietly. "You know what you've done."

"Honestly, I'm sorry I called you a whore and that Elijah referred to you as one, but you're not in your own bloody body, are you? It's an easy mistake."

"I should be angry about that, but I'm not."

Rebekah let out a frustrated sound as she stomped off like a petulant, spoiled brat, causing Bella to laugh as she continued with her spell fortifications. As it was right now, only humans could enter the building, and that gave her a good feeling. No unexpected witches, werewolves or even vampires could come in and take back what wasn't rightfully theirs. A real fortress.

"Eventually you will have to let her in, love," Klaus' voice sounded from behind her before he moved into her field of vision and sat down next to her. "She is family."

"She is your sister. She's the reason you've been kicked out of New Orleans because your sister and your brother didn't come and pay you visits or stayed with you after I was gone," she said angrily.

"I had Sameen."

"Yes, and while she's a capable woman, not even she could prevent you from doing stupid things like… I don't know, getting kicked out of New Orleans. Or better yet, resurrect your brother when we explicitly told you not to!" She looked at Klaus and narrowed her eyes at him. "You fucker, I'm still not happy about that either!"

"Would you feel better to know that if we hadn't been kicked out in the first place, that we would have found a way back for you as well?"

"No! Because dead is dead!" She shot at him and sighed as she leaned back in her chair. "But it's very sweet of you to miss us that much, Klaus, and now that I'm back, I will do everything I can to make sure I'm sticking around." Bella couldn't stay angry at him for long, it was the look on his face that made her heart melt for all the wrong reasons. He was like this little puppy that needed to be loved and given attention to.

Of course, he could also be the devil beast from hell, but he'd have a good reason to do so. Such as, taking back the Quarter from the werewolves, cleaning up New Orleans by killing some werewolves. It would be a family effort for the Mikaelsons while she'd focus on the witches because that still needed to be done as well.

"I know you're busy," she said as she looked at him. "But can you get our books?"

"You're in no shape to do magic, Bella."

"Uhm, yeah, I am. I've turned this place into a fortress. The only downside would be if you want to have supernatural friends over, I'd have to invite them in."

Klaus groaned as he ran a hand through his hair. "It's like asking mummy for permission if I can play with my friends!"

"Does that mean you want to have someone over, darling?" she smiled at him and batted her eyelashes at him. "You know I never approved of your friends, sweetheart, you'll have to find some new ones that I like."

"Or I could just kill you right now and make this place accessible again."

"Ah, yes, but you know that the moment you do that, you'll get kicked out again by the Bennett witches that are left."

Klaus grumbled as he crossed his arms over his chest. "At least invite Bekah and Elijah in."

"No."

"Please?"

"No. Give me the books and I might reconsider your request."

"You drive a hard bargain, little Swan," he smiled at her and nodded. "Very well. Allow me to take you to your room and I shall bring you your books that you can peruse from the comforts of your new bed."

"You got me a new bed?" She smiled widely. "When did that happen?"

"When you were too busy yelling at the good doctor who was setting your ankle up in the study," he lifted her up from her seat and carried her towards the room. "See, that's the perk of being a vampire, we can do things fast and compel our way if we have to."

"Uhuh," she smiled as she pushed open the door of the room she shared with Kol and smirked. "Klaus, I know I've been dead for many years, but even I can tell that that bed was expensive."

"Nonsense," he said as he gently put her down on the bed. "Allow me to indulge you now that I can, alright? I shall get you your books, and once Kol comes back from having some fun with some wolves, he can get you something to drink."

It was funny how she had accepted the fact that Kol had to go out and feed. No doubt he was also having fun trying to mutilate as many people as possible or at least fuck with their heads. She had only requested that for the time being, Kol and Klaus wouldn't go off on their own, together. Both men had a hand in forgetting the time when they were having too much fun, and she didn't want to worry. Or fear for human casualties, but right now there were too many wolves in New Orleans, and that meant a lot of snacks. She didn't have to worry that much.

She nodded at Klaus as she made herself comfortable on the beautiful four-poster bed made out of wood, making her wonder where on Earth he could have gotten this bed from. It was super comfortable and certainly much better than the bed she had slept on in Mystic Falls. It wasn't strange to her that Klaus liked to spoil her with things, but she figured that he upped himself because he felt guilty that he hadn't managed to bring her back as he had done with Kol. If he had, things would have been incredibly different.

This was also a reason she didn't want to let Rebekah and Elijah in. They had been celebrating their freedom for centuries, why all of a sudden would they want to stay? Maybe she wasn't ever going to invite them back in; they'd be able to if Bella died again anyway. She was blunt about it because that's what it looked like, that she was going to die again unless they'd find a willing host body she could use. Willing was the keyword and clean was the other.

They'd certainly have to find someone from outside New Orleans in case the witches had put something in the water. It had to be someone of Kol's choosing too. She wouldn't want him to look at someone who was visibly not his taste for the rest of eternity even though the inside of the package would still be her.

Sighing, she looked around on the bed and widely smiled when she saw that the blankets were electrical. Looking for the little device that controlled it, she came up for a loss, pouting as she crawled underneath them, she had to wait for Klaus to tell her how to make it work. Maybe it would be so hot that it would start to warm her bones. Her cold bones had been a constant companion since she returned. She didn't want to make a big fuss out of it other than having blankets around her for the most part, but it was highly annoying. The feeling had only intensified when she arrived back in New Orleans to drop the barrier. The witches were manipulating her with something, and she was going to find out what.

Maybe she would pay a visit to the Mikaelson witches in Algiers tomorrow, with Kol and Klaus. Klaus could suss out the liars, and the rest of them could stay at the compound. Or maybe not. Maybe it was safer if the witches stayed put but under the protection of some vampires. Yes. That was a better, more reliable idea.

 **[Marcel's old apartment across the river, Algiers, New Orleans. January 26th, 2311. 2:34 pm]**

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Kol asked as he carried her up the stairs. "They're family of the ones responsible for kicking us out of New Orleans in the first place."

"Don't worry, they won't hurt you," she smiled at him as she kissed his cheek while she held onto him with her arms around his neck. "Shield has already been raised and been protecting us since we left our home."

"Are you good with that?"

"It's a minor spell; I'm all right," she smiled bravely and slid open the door. "Wow, you lot really don't go anywhere at all, do you?" Bella remarked as she saw the same witches she met only a few weeks ago."

"You came back!" Malin smiled widely, getting to her feet but making no attempt to hug Bella whatsoever. Which was good.

"I told you I would," Bella said as Kol set her down in a chair. "This is my husband, Kol. Hurt him and you're dead. Either by his hand or mine, do you understand?"

The young witches had gasped in awe before all were nodding their heads. Bella slowly nodded as she looked at the witches. "Malin, was it?"

"Yes, ma'am."

And hey, they learned some respect too. "I choose you to be the spokesperson. If anyone else wishes to add something to what Malin's saying, raise your hand. I do not want to be confused," Bella spoke calmly, almost as if she was a school teacher. When all the witches nodded, she spoke again. "Now what is the exact problem you're facing and where is Mandy?"

Malin seemed to be a little uneasy about that question regarding Bella's favorite witch. "We haven't seen her in a couple of days but can I ask, what happened to you?"

"Oh, broken ankle, I tripped," Bella shrugged.

"But your husband is a vampire, surely his blood-"

"Been there, done that… didn't work. Don't worry about it. Why did you bring me back?"

Malin sighed as she sat down again. "My mother is the current regent," she started as she rubbed her eyes. "Ever since she's taken over from our grandfather, she's been a little off. We suspect it has to do with the influence of the Bennett witches who came to town after our great-grandfather made sure no vampires were able to enter New Orleans unless they were spelled with a very specific spell. We used that spell on your friend Sam Shaw, but lifted it as soon as it became apparent that she wouldn't be returning."

"She has," Bella smiled knowingly and nodded towards Kol. "Didn't need a spell for him to enter either."

"We noticed you've dropped the barrier, but was that a good thing?"

"I already told you that it's a step in the right direction on my previous visit. Tell me more about your mother and the Bennett witches," Bella dismissively waved her hand.

"The witches are actually in league with the werewolves; this is how they've managed to take over most of New Orleans. They have been given free reign and even werewolves from other places came to settle here. They know they have no right to be a regent as they don't have any ancestors buried in the cemetery, but they do know how to control a person."

This peaked her interest. "How so?"

"The Bennett's do more of the dark magic variety; they are careless with respecting boundaries that nature has given them."

Bella looked over her shoulder as she heard Kol snort. "What?"

"Sounds about right, about those Bennett witches. I mean, back in the day I knew one, and she was a pain in the ass, not seeing the danger in learning Expression, for example."

"Bonnie?"

"Yep."

"But she seemed so… I don't know… mellow?"

"Hardly," Kol huffed. "That's what she wanted you to believe so you'd become her friend."

Bella snorted before turning her attention back to Malin. "They're in your mother's mind?"

"It looks like it, yes. We've had good Regents for generations, abiding the rules and teaching us that yes, magic should be fun and respected. My mother… she's… I don't know; it's just different. Her inner court is filled with Bennett witches. They're doing spells for God knows what and they've even turned to sacrificial magic."

Both Bella and Kol sucked in a breath. That wasn't good. "And she reinstated the Harvest if I remember correctly?"

Malin nodded. "But to our knowledge, she hasn't requested it to be restored by the Ancestors so if the Harvest goes ahead, we will lose all our power as punishment for crimes against our own."

"When's the Harvest supposed to happen?"

"March 21st, during the Equinox."

"Well then, plenty of time to talk some sense into your mother," Bella smiled at her. She and Kol had decided to play stupid when it came to the poison in her body, just to see how the witches would react. If they'd be upfront about it, then their penalty would be mild. "What's her name?"

"Esther."

"Darling, naming anyone after either my wife or my mother is asking for trouble," Kol remarked with a grin on his face.

"Names don't hold power," Malin huffed as she crossed her arms over her chest. "And did I mention they're in league with the werewolves?"

"Yes, yes you did, and they're being taken care of. You resurrected me to help you deal with your witch problems, and that's what I will do now that I've brought the vampires back to New Orleans."

Derek, one of the young witches, muttered something to his friend, something Bella couldn't hear, but seeing how Kol shifted his stance, it couldn't be good and her husband had heard it. When he continued to hear what he didn't want to hear, he made his way over to Derek and snapped his neck, causing the witches to gasp as the body dropped to the floor. "I'm done," Kol sneered as he waved his hand dismissively. "My wife has too much patience, and you're lucky that she didn't hear what that boy just said, but I did. So, either come clean now, because we know what you've done to her, or someone else dies."

"Bella, please, you can't let him do this," Vanja begged as she looked at her. "Killing someone won't solve anything!"

"I believe my wife said that if you wanted to speak up, you had to raise your hand, darling," Kol said as he slowly walked towards Vanja. "Your sister is the one with the voice, not you." He cocked his head as he licked his lips. "Look at that pretty little neck."

"Bella, please, call him off," Malin stammered. "Don't let him kill my sister."

Bella huffed. "You're a witch. You can stop him."

"He's an Original!"

"So? You may not be able to kill him, but you can slow him down or throw him across the room but somehow I think that will only make things worse," she said simply and looked at Kol, who had his eyes fixed on her while standing behind Vanja. "Answer him."

"Call him off, first."

"He's not my attack dog. In fact, had it been up to me, you would all be dead by now and not just by his hands," Bella sneered. "You're lucky I am incapacitated right now and can't walk to you and smack the living shit out of you. Talk."

Malin sighed and reluctantly nodded. "Because Mandy found you in an obscure, written book, we were a little bit hesitant in resurrecting you. You see, we have no knowledge of you. Well, we know that you and Kol are our ancestors and that he was a powerful witch, but there wasn't anything known about you. And we got scared when Mandy came with the information that you weren't just a regular human but in fact, just as powerful as Kol, if not more powerful due to your family magic," Malin carefully eyed her twin sister, who looked absolutely terrified with the tall Original vampire looming over her. "Then we questioned your alignment. Everyone knows of the Original family and how terrifying they are, what kind of monsters they are."

"Aw, they think you're a monster like us, how cute!"

"We realized you were very powerful and Mandy was afraid that we couldn't simply have you walk around unchecked. That was after she fried the chip in Daisy's brain while we were already in the process of preparing her for you."

"You could just have not done it," Bella huffed. "If you thought I was that dangerous, why go ahead in the first place?"

"Because we need your power to deal with mom and the Bennett witches!" Vanja spoke up again, causing Kol to take another step closer to her.

"We needed a way to make sure your stay here wasn't permanent so… Daisy offered to make a poison, and it would give you a couple of days…" Malin said as she anxiously watched her sister. "You've already surprised us by living this long; you probably won't last longer."

"Can I just have a taste?" Kol asked Bella, who shrugged for an answer as Kol sunk his teeth into Vanja, causing the girl to scream out in pain.

"Please, please stop!" Malin begged as the other witches finally scattered, afraid that the vampire would go after them next. "Surely, you understand! No one is supposed to have that much power, or at least the power that equals that of the regent!"

"Kol and I were regents," Bella said as she nudged Kol with her magic, telling him to stop feeding on the girl. They were going to get their revenge eventually. "But we never abused our power, in fact, even before we were regents, we handled ourselves with care. The reason I don't show up in your heads as a witch is because Kol's brother Klaus, wanted to protect me. He probably wanted to protect himself too, because I'm not afraid of him and will kick his ass. Someone could resurrect me and brainwash me to go after him. So I understand you willing to control me. That you wanted to poison me to limit my time here. No matter how unfair it seems to me and my husband and my family, I can understand."

Malin let out a sigh of relief as she nodded.

"What else have you done to me?"

"Nothing, I swear, why?"

Bella sighed as she ran her hand through her hair. "If we find out that you have done something else to me, you'll be sorry. I have my ways in finding out. Kol and I will be paying the regent a visit and see what the damage is, I'll do my best to work swiftly for you so that the casualties will stay at a minimum. I'm sorry you lost your friend Derek."

"What are we going to tell his parents?"

"The truth," Bella simply said as Kol lifted her up again. "Let them know that the Originals are back in town, and they're not going to leave again. We'll be in touch."

"Pleasure in meeting you all," Kol said with a grin before he started to exit the loft with Bella and headed back home.


	13. Curtain Up

**[Giza, Egypt. October 11th, 2020. 8:37 am]**

They had done things the right way around, this time. When Bella found out she was pregnant, she told Kol, and they both skyped everyone who wanted to know to give them the good news, much to Reneé and Charlie's happiness. But also, no, they weren't going to come back to the States for the birth. If they wanted to be present when the baby was born, they had to come to them.

So here they all were, in a hotel overlooking the pyramids, the day after Bella had given birth to their second daughter, Sophie. They had flown in Paula who had helped them with the birth of Nina, and had now helped with Sophie as well, Paula was a blessing and Bella loved her to pieces. Reneé and Phil were in an adjoined room with theirs and Charlie was down the hall. Klaus occupied the room on the other side of Kol and Bella's room with Hope.

It was Hope's first real trip out of the United States, and she had the right age to become interested in things. The Pyramids and the Sphinx had sent her brain into overdrive, and that was the cutest thing ever. Even Nina had gotten excited about it when she finally saw the pyramids a couple of weeks ago.

Bella groaned when Nina woke them up; she had been sleeping in bed with her and Kol as Sophie was in a crib next to the bed. Nina was doing her best to be as obnoxious as possible. Cute, but obnoxious. Bella already feared that Nina would be jealous, that she'd lose interest in the baby as her new sibling would need more attention, but she and Kol were determined not to let that happen. Hence why Nina was in bed with them. Mommy and Daddy felt guilty for the new baby, and the two-year-old was waking the both of them up.

"Ugh," Bella said as she pulled the pillow over her head. She felt like she had only recently pushed out a baby, every muscle in her body ached. Nina in bed certainly hadn't been the brightest ideas she and Kol had ever had.

"Morning, mummy," Nina giggled as she poked Bella's side with her index finger. "Can I toast?"

"Ask your dad," Bella muttered, keeping the pillow firmly in place.

"Daddy," Nina said as she crawled on top of him, kneeing him in the groin. "Wake up."

"I am awake, little Bit," Kol replied as he sat up and gently threw her on the other end of the bed where his feet were. "Leave your mum alone, okay? She's very tired. I'm going to the bathroom, and then we'll get you some breakfast. Maybe we can go to the pyramids today, and you can tell Hope all about it."

"Yeah!" Nina said, hopping off the bed and running into the bathroom.

"No, I said that I would go to the-" Kol sighed as he fell back on the bed. "Are you sure she's mine, Cuddles?"

"Shut up," she said as she lifted the pillow off her head. "Morning," she smiled at him.

"Morning, Cuddles," he softly kissed her. "I'll have her out of your hair today."

"Ask Klaus to take her," she groaned as she pulled him back for another kiss. "I want you to stay with me and Sophie."

"Okay, whatever you want," he smiled at her before he kissed her again. Kol left the bed and went to the bathroom to see what his daughter was up to, she was quiet. Too quiet.

 **[The Abattoir, French Quarter, New Orleans. May 4th, 2023. 12:34 pm]**

"I don't see why you two are in such a rush to move out," Klaus said as they were having lunch in the courtyard with the entire family, minus Rebekah and Elijah who had left six months ago. It was only because they had left that Kol and Bella had returned with their brood, and Klaus loved it. Little Nina was turning five years old this year, and it would be nice for Hope to have another girl around, despite the age difference. Sophie reminded him too much of Kol when he was little; she was two now, or as she'd say "two and a half!", And she was the ultimate prankster, even at her age. Nina had mellowed out somewhat as she had gotten older, taking after her mother.

He didn't want them to move out. There was plenty of room at the compound and always good food, why did they want to move out?

"As much as we love you," Bella said as she smiled at him. "We have a family to take care of. It's not particularly safe here."

"Of course it is!" Klaus huffed. "Don't be ridiculous. This house the safest place in New Orleans."

"Yesterday we had to dodge the body of a vampire you had just killed and discarded from the balcony. It nearly dropped on the children. They're kids, Klaus. I don't want to see them that kind of stuff just yet."

"They're Mikaelsons; they have to get used to it."

"Yeah, see, I don't want that just yet. They're children, Klaus."

"They're supernatural children, Isabella," he countered as he took a sip of his tea. "They'll have to get used to it, eventually."

"Now is not that time," she said in a low voice as she put some bread on Sophie's plate. "We'll only be moving down the street to an apartment."

"Yes, you acquired a lot. That still means you'll be here for a couple more months," he said with a smirk on his face.

"Yes. So, no more bodies. Or blood," Bella pointed at him with her knife. "Promise me."

"I promise, little Swan."

 **[The Abattoir, French Quarter, New Orleans. June 21st, 2023. 3:21 pm]**

"I'm dead," Kol laughed as he scrambled to his feet and flopped into a chair to watch his wife play with their children in the courtyard. He had been going back and forth between the compound and his new home a couple of times today to see if the workers truly were working and to slightly escape the craziness that his girls brought him. Of course, upon his latest return, he was roped into playing a game with the girls, and it ended up turning into him being a human jungle Jim.

Thankfully, Bella managed to distract the girls with the promise of an ice cream while they played another game before actually getting one.

"It's a beautiful thing, love," Klaus said as he sat down next to his brother, feeling somewhat morose after receiving a message that someone he deeply cared about was in danger. She wasn't in enough danger for him to go and save the day. "The way that you and Bella are together, I am so happy for you, brother."

Kol looked over to his brother and raised an eyebrow. "You should find yourself a woman instead of visiting the nearest brothel on a weekly basis, brother, you'll find what you're lacking."

"I don't lack anything," he replied as he narrowed his eyes on his sibling. "You, Hope, Isabella and your children are enough."

"Uhuh, try fool someone else," Kol smirked. "I know you, remember? We're alike, you and I."

"Not so much anymore, you got tamed, brother."

"Hardly," he huffed in return. "You should have seen the things we got up to, I managed to persuade her into a threesome when we were in Amsterdam. With another girl."

Klaus blinked at that. The possibilities were endless with that knowledge, at least for his brother. "I never thought of Bella as the experimental one."

"A foursome is next on the cards. With another girl."

"Nah, too messy, mate."

He thought for a second and then smirked. "Yeah, maybe. It was easier when I was a vampire though."

"Just say the word and I'll bite you."

"No, I like being human, thank you very much," he snorted and shook his head. "If you're that lonely, Nik, why don't you have us turn the wolves back to normal so you can have your way with Hayley?"

"She's married, and no. She's… no," Klaus mused at the thought. "Although they'd all be rather easier to kill."

"Killing the mother of your child. Classy."

"Would make things a lot easier, maybe even have Hope not resent me later on."

"You don't care about being resented, Nik. Stop the bullshit. Have Caroline become your mate, you liked her, didn't you?"

"Jailbait, much?"

"Then what the hell was that in Mystic Falls then?"

"That was not love. It was lust. I do hope you know the difference by now brother or I fear for your manhood when your wife finds out that you only lust after her," he said with a playful smile on his face. "She'll rip off your balls and feed them to you."

"Sounds like you know what you're talking about," Kol pointed out. "Am I missing something here?"

Klaus took a sip of his drink as he smiled, but kept quiet.

"There is! Niklaus, you old dog! Who is she? Why isn't she here?"

"It's complicated," he replied with a small smile. "We met in 2007 and I turned her seven years later after she was seriously injured at her job. I always said I wouldn't intervene in her life or even attempt to rescue her, but I couldn't help myself."

"She must be something then."

"Oh yes," his smile grew wider. "Unfortunately, she's not ready to leave her old life yet. I'll wait for as long as I must."

"What's her name?"

"Sameen. You'd adore her, brother. She's a feisty spirit, and she's not particularly fond of Elijah and Rebekah after the stories I've shared with her."

"Really? Wow, and Elijah is supposed to be the good brother. Well done, you found yourself a girl with a brain!"

"Kol," Klaus growled out a warning.

"What?"

"Don't tell anyone what I've just shared with you. Elijah might seek her out and use her against me. Rebekah definitely would. Bella… well, she might seek her out to drag her to New Orleans because she wants me to be happy even if it means that Sameen would not be."

"Your secret is safe with me, older brother," he smiled at him, happy that unlike appearances, his brother did have someone special for himself. And that was good. It made life so much better to know that his brother had someone. It only sucked that she wasn't currently at his side. "Any idea when she'll be ready for you?"

"No idea. Knowing Sameen, she'd have me wait for a century," he said with a slight chuckle. "Simply because she can."

"A stubborn one. I like it!"

 **[Accessing current feeds]**

 **[The Abattoir, French Quarter, New Orleans. January 27th, 2311. 11:04 am]**

It seemed like the witches had been right; Bella had started to feel worse during the night with cold chills and vomiting a lot. Luckily, Kol had been out to vent his anger on some werewolves instead of furniture, so she didn't have to feel particularly bad for him to have to watch her. She was happy though that Sam had followed him out so that Kol wasn't alone and uncontrolled. Like Klaus, Kol could take things too far.

The sound of him laughing had woken her up early that morning after having had just a couple of hours of sleep. Kol was telling her about his fun night out with Sam, going after Hope's mother, Hayley, and chasing her all over New Orleans while pulling her tail or throwing her far far away as a sport. When Bella questioned their actions, an even bigger smile appeared on his face and told him the stories that Sam had told him about Hayley and their delicate relationship, to which Bella rolled her eyes.

Neither of them had liked the information that Bella and Kol had learned from the witches. Klaus applauded their restraint of not killing them as he would not have hesitated, but he trusted the both of them for having a plan. It was a good thing to leave your opponents alive for as long as possible to gain more information, but that did have an expiration date.

Bella was currently in one of the bare rooms in the compound, away from all the noise of the compelled workers around and working on the spell she wanted to cast to find out more. She believed the witches had spoken the truth when they had said they had 'just poisoned' her, but the herbs in her system would not have caused her to feel cold all the time. Or, on occasion, get the feeling that she was being stabbed in the stomach or shoulder. She had Kol draw her a pentagram with chalk on the floor because she couldn't do it without hurting herself or smudging the circle. She then had him place her in the middle of it with her herbs. "I'm so sorry for you having to carry me all the time," she said as she looked in the spellbook. "I feel like such a loser."

"Nonsense, Cuddles," he said as he leaned against the wall. "You know I don't mind helping you."

"I feel like an invalid."

"You are."

She looked up and smiled before sticking out her tongue at him.

"No. I was mistaken. You're a small child," Kol grinned as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Take your time with the spell, don't worry about getting caught doing magic by the demented regent, we're safe in this house."

"I'd rather be in our old home," she muttered before turning her attention back to the pages and started to mix her ingredients. "I bet it stinks now."

"It's no longer there, I checked. We'll build another one once this is all over, I doubt we can continue living with Klaus under one roof."

Bella shrugged. "Why not? The place is big enough."

"Bella…"

"What? I don't want him to get lonely! I know he has Sam now, but Elijah and Rebekah will bugger off again once New Orleans is back to normal."

"We'll be only down the street, he'll be fine."

She sighed and shrugged. "Whatever, we'll see." She rubbed her temples as a headache unexpectedly showed its ugly head, and it caused her having to squint at her book. She needed to be able to read the words to cast the spell because she had already realized that memorizing them wasn't working anymore as she'd forgotten the words. Taking a deep breath, she told herself to ignore the pain, drag the book onto her lap and read from there.

"Are you okay?"

"Fine," she said as she added the last ingredient, a drop of her blood, so it required her to cut herself a little, to the mix and slowly started to read out the words in the book. Her ingredients started to burn a blue hue, and she gingerly poured it across a map - to find the location of the object or magic that was controlling her as she kept casting the spell.

The trail lead to the City of the Dead, which was quite puzzling, seeing as according to the Mikaelson witches, only the regent and a handful of Bennett witches were occupying the cemetery. She raised an eyebrow and continued casting, but the line stopped there. Letting out a breath, she laid down on the floor and rubbed her forehead.

"Ugh," she let out. "Fancy paying your respects to my old bones?"

Kol snorted and nodded. "After lunch and after you've taken a nap."

"I don't need a nap, I'm not a child," she shot at him as she kept rubbing her forehead. "I want this to be over with. Whoever is fucking with me, physically, is going to pay for it, dearly. Even if it's the fucking regent."

 **[City of the Dead, LaFayette Cemetery 1, New Orleans, LA. January 27th, 2311. 3:03 pm]**

She had cursed him when he had brought her to bed after lunch but had gladly taken the few hours of nap time and when she had woken up again, she felt refreshed. Better. More focused and less dizzy. "We should stop by our playhouse and get the non-magic shackles, just for kicks," she said as Kol carried her into the cemetery. A few of Klaus' daywalkers had followed them, just in case, but it seemed that after just a couple of days, the werewolves had retreated from the French Quarter.

"We'll do it anyway because it'll make your life easier," he replied as they stopped at the Crypt she was buried in. "Look at that, a whole crypt for our family. Klaus must have been feeling generous," he said as he stepped inside.

Bella couldn't believe her eyes as she looked at the names engraved on the tombs and swallowed hard when she noticed the names of their four children and the dates that they had died. "Kol, they lead a long and meaningful life," she proudly said as she caressed one of the stones. "Look at them, look at all of them, they all lived because of us."

"I have created vampires who lasted longer than that," he deadpanned, earning him a slap on the head. "Hey! It's the truth! They all lived until I was killed."

"By a new vampire and a teenage hunter."

"And a butcher's knife and vervain water, seriously, don't forget the vervain water, that seriously hurt," he pouted as he planted a kiss on her head. "Aw, look, Nik have us together."

"Good, the way it's supposed to be," she smiled at him. "Now let's go to our playhouse."

They retrieved the shackles from the crypt and Kol was impressed by how everything looked after all these years, much like she had been when she went to retrieve their rings earlier. He couldn't help but put some extra things in his pockets as they left again and grinned. "We're going to have so much fun, are we going to kill the witch responsible and destroy whatever she's using?"

"Hell yes," Bella grumbled as they sealed the crypt again and continued on their quest of finding the fucking witch that was messing with her. "And then, you know, we could talk to the regent and see where we go from there. But I hope that killing the witch responsible for giving me so much grief on top of the poison shit, will allow me to at least drink your blood and fix my damn ankle."

"Grumpy pants," he laughed.

"What?" she whined. "Enough is enough! I want my body back."

"You want your old, creaky, flabby body back? Rocking the grey hair?" He teased her, earning him another smack on his head. "My, you're grumpy."

"Yes," she said with a pout. "I'm still getting used to the blonde hair."

"I think it looks fabulous on you, Cuddles," he smiled at her before walking into an invisible shield but because Bella could enter, she fell out of his arms and flat on her ass on the other side of the shield. "Oh, well, at least we found the right place," he quipped as he looked at her.

"That hurt," she pouted as she managed to get to her feet and dusted herself off and looked around. This was a new part of the cemetery and she hadn't seen it on her previous visit. It wasn't a crypt or mausoleum, more like a mansion on the side of the cemetery and it looked severely out of place. "Should have brought my crutches," she deadpanned as she looked at the building.

"Can't you get me in?"

Bella let out a breath as she tried to sense the magic used and shrugged. "Nope, you'll have to wait here, unfortunately."

"You know, this is just typical. I hate it!" Kol spat as he started pacing along the line that separated him from his wife. "I hate it!"

"Kol, breathe. I'll be fine."

"Doubt it," he growled as he kept pacing as if he was a caged animal. He threw the anti-magic shackles against the barrier for good measure and hated it that they bounced back as well. "What if something happens to you in there? I won't be able to save you."

"Hey," she said as she looked at him. "Look at me."

He stopped pacing and looked at her, taking a deep breath. "Yes."

"I'll be fine," she smiled at him. "I'll just kill the witch and that will drop this barrier. Then you and I can look for the object together," she said as confident as she could. "I promise. I'll be fine."

"Don't die on me, okay?"

"I won't." She hopped outside the barrier and pulled his head down to softly kiss him. "You know I would have drank some of your blood just to be on the safe side if I could, right?"

He nodded as he returned her kiss before sighing. "Hurry, my little pirate."

"What?" She laughed at him.

"Remind me to get you an eyepatch to match your outfit."


	14. Do you want to play?

**[The Abattoir, French Quarter, New Orleans. August 11th, 2029. 6:11 pm]**

"I'm so glad you allowed me to cook for you and have us over for dinner," Bella smiled at Klaus as she set down the last dish to get served on the table. "It's been awhile since we all sat down and had a nice dinner together, don't you think?"

Nina huffed. "We're here almost every day, mum," she said as she picked on a bread roll. "Do you know how uncool it is to spend so much time here? I barely get to hang out with my friends."

"Yeah!" Sophie chimed in. "What she said!"

"You hear that? You're uncool, maybe we should give you some more puppy therapy," Bella grinned as she ruffled Klaus' hair. He had been miserable for the last few weeks, and she couldn't figure out why and if Kol knew it, he wasn't saying anything.

"I do have to admit that the meal you've cooked for us is impressive, Isabella, thank you," Klaus smiled at her and watched as she sat down. "I have a feeling you want to talk to me about something?"

"Two things," Kol said with a nod as he put some food on the plate of their youngest, Eliana. "I think both of them will please you."

"Please tell me you will respond to the pleading of the covens and ascend to Regent," he said to his brother. "I know I'm not one of the most favoured people to the witches right now after taking a bite out of Davina but…"

Kol sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Yeah, that was a particular stupid thing to do. On top of that, you left two small children without a mother."

"They still have a father!"

"That's not the point, Nik. I was handling it."

"She destroyed ten of my best vampires, how is that handling it?"

"Hey, no fighting," Bella said sternly. "We're having dinner. And yes, Kol's going to respond to the coven's pleading of him ascending to Regent."

"And I will inform them that the only condition I have is that I can be co-Regent with Bella."

Klaus nearly choked on his drink. "The both of you?"

Kol nodded. "We need to restructure the covens, make new rules, better ones that aren't outdated. It's a lot of work for just one person and the power given as Regent is too much for one person to handle."

"Ha! You don't trust yourself to have more power."

"Maybe," Kol smirked. "Maybe not, but sharing is caring, isn't it?"

"Congratulations, let me know how that works out with the council," Klaus smirked and dug into the delicious piece of venison that Bella had prepared for them. "What's the other thing?"

Bella waited for Klaus to have chewed and swallowed his food. "You're going to get another niece or a nephew in February."

He blinked at her. "You told me that Eliana was your last."

"I never switched back to the DEPO shot, in case we wanted to go and travel again. I got sick in May after the cook you hired didn't prepare the meal properly," Bella said with a shrug. "Kol and I have talked a lot about it and we decided to allow it to come and see what happens then. Might tie some tubes."

"Well, congratulations," his smile was sincere this time. "I suppose I shall ask the planning permission to give you permission to extend your home."

"That would be lovely, thanks, Nik," Kol grinned.

 **[The Mystic Grill, Mystic Falls, VA. April 1st, 2288. 4:15pm.]**

When Nik told her that he had the best April Fool's Prank in the history of mankind, she had not suspected this. This naked, freshly resurrected, ranting lunatic who was currently draining some relatives of the founding families of Mystic Falls. She was not pleased, at all.

What was she going to do with two of these vampires? Even less than she could have done with Nik. Sure, she could match him in a fight, but just match him. He came close to killing her a couple of times over the last two hundred years, and she didn't want to have Kol around. She'd brushed up on her Original vampires history with help from The Machine, and he was worse than Nik if she had to believe her.

She watched him feed on the humans from her spot against the wall as her mate had gone over to the bar to fetch a bottle of bourbon, and she was appalled by Kol's appetite. Sure, the guy had been dead for like, forever, and he probably deserved it, but he was a messy eater. There was blood everywhere. She considered buying him a bib.

When Sam moved from her spot to join her mate for a drink - anything to not to feel this nauseated, she caught the eye of the naked Original Brother. She found herself pinned against the wall the moment she had pushed herself off of it. Sighing, she looked at him with an even expression on her face. "What?"

"You've outdone yourself, Nik," he said chipper as he looked at the young vampire in front of him. "A strumpet, for me? And a vampire one at that? You shouldn't have!" He pressed himself against Sam and nuzzled her neck. "Smells nice too. Maybe I will forgive you for having resurrected me."

"Get your hands off of me," Sam bit at him before kneeing him in the groin. When he turned from her to protect his private parts, she took hold of his arm and broke it in half. She then kicked against his backside and had him collide with a table.

"Oh, feisty!" Kol chuckled like a maniac, high on blood and fury, as he straightened his arm and felt it heal. He turned around and lunged at her, pushing her once again against the wall. "I like it rough."

Growling, Sam reached for Kol's dick and broke that in half. "Get. Your. Hands. Off. Of. Me."

"Nik! The harlot you found me is being mean to me!" Kol whined as he took a few steps back, anxiously looking to see if his dick was going to heal on its own too. "Fuck, that hurt."

Klaus walked back into the room and tossed his brother some clothes he pulled off of his brother's victims. "No less than you deserve, brother," he said chipper. "Sameen is not yours to take."

Kol's jaw nearly fell to the floor, and his eyes grew large. "That's Sameen? Your Sameen? Holy...she's hot..."

Sam hit Klaus on the head. "You told him about me?"

"A moment of weakness, love," he replied with a shrug. "Are you alright? Did he hurt you?"

She huffed and jacked the bottle of bourbon out of his hand. "Hardly. You know me better than that. This is mine now."

"Of course, I'll fetch myself another bottle," Klaus said amused as he looked at his brother, still undressed but staring at them in shock. "I wasn't lying when I told you I had a mate, Kol. You should know me better than that."

"I… Oh, I need a drink."

"Put some fucking clothes on first. No one needs to see your ass any longer than necessary," Sameen muttered as she threw back a shot.

"You don't like what you see, darling? This body is gorgeous," Kol smirked as he looked at his bloodied chest. "I missed this body."

"I have the Original hybrid. You can't compare to him," she murmured as she turned on her stool, eying him up and down. "No. No comparison. Nik is packing more."

"Nik!" he whined as he got into the clothes. "She's worse than Rebekah."

Klaus threw a bottle across the Grill. "The subject matter pertaining to our siblings is off limits, especially around Sameen."

Sam had been staring at Kol since he mentioned the sister she desired to shove a stake through. Her jaw was clenched, and one could hear her teeth grinding from across the room if they listened hard enough. "You really wish to lose your insult of a cock. Don't you?"

"I could easily kill you, little young vampire. Nik's mate or not…"

"You'd like to think that, wouldn't you," she said with a dark smile.

Kol huffed as he sat down on a table, quiet for a moment as his thoughts gathered. "At least tell me why I'm not supposed to mention our siblings. I've been dead for quite a while. I have a lot to catch up on."

"Always and forever doesn't pertain to them," she muttered, taking a swig straight from the bottle as she looked away.

"After your death, dear brother, they decided it was time for them to permanently stay away from me. Bella tried to get them back, of course, but even after she passed, they didn't return," Klaus said as he walked over to his brother to hand him a bottle.

Kol downed half the bottle in one go. "Fine. Then talking about Bella is off limits too. It hurts."

"Agreed," Klaus said with a sigh as he mirrored his brother's actions. The loss of her still hurt him too; she stuck with him even after Kol's death while she wasn't related to him by blood. It had been amazing, and it had been a genuine sad day when she finally passed.

Sameen looked at the two men and smirked. "I am going to say this once and you never forget it. Neither of you are to stop me if they decide to show their faces again. I will break their necks and shove a stake up their asses or anything else I please in the moment."

 **[Accessing current feeds]**

 **[City of the Dead, LaFayette Cemetery 1, New Orleans, LA. January 27th, 2311. 3:30 pm]**

As she stood at the door of the building, she looked over her shoulder and gave Kol a thumbs up. She felt exhausted from her trip; it was about 30 metres, but it seemed longer. She didn't have a walking cast, and it was a bitch to get to the door. She felt incredibly pissed off too, whoever was controlling her was in this building, and she was going to kill that person.

She opened the door and was surprised by the bare insides of the building that seemed to look quite majestic on the outside but like nothing on the inside. "Hello?" Maybe this was the house of the Regent? Maybe the Bennett witches hung out here, she wouldn't know for sure until she saw someone. Bella moved into the hall and kept quiet, trying to hear if she could hear something. "Hello?" She eventually said again.

"Bella?" Mandy's voice had sounded before the young girl peered around the corner. "Is it you or a figment of my imagination?"

"It's me," Bella replied as she looked at the witch. "Are you alright? The others have been worried about you."

"I can't leave this house," Mandy's voice dropped to a whisper as she looked over her shoulder before running towards Bella. "Come on, you can't stay out in the open like this," she said as she helped her walk.

Bella, relieved with the assistance the girl gave her, had no choice but to follow her down to the basement. "Whose place is this? The Regent?"

"No," Mandy replied, shaking her head. "I don't know, all I know is that I can't leave for some reason."

"Then why bring me down here? Surely we must have been able to break the spell together?" She sat down on the stairs and took a deep breath. The air was thick and smelled funny, maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to follow Mandy down, it wasn't as if she could run up the stairs if trouble would arise.

"Whoever it is, they can't get into the basement. A side effect of their own spell, I guess," Mandy replied with a casual shrug as she walked around. "I've had some time to familiarize myself with the contents of this basement. Whoever it is, he or she has some serious power and skill."

Bella hummed a response as she looked at the vibrating device she had gotten out of her pocket. She had to smile at this; she had never given the device back to Sam for some reason and the words appearing on the screen were concerning.

[Message: Be careful.]

She looked at Mandy. "For how long have you been here?"

"I don't know, I lost count," she said with a shrug as she skimmed through what looked like a grimoire. "I've been trying to find a way out of here. Did you cast a spell to find me?"

"No," she said, slightly embarrassed that she was selfish. "I cast a spell for my own benefit."

[Message: Trust no one. Attempting to gather more information.]

"Really? And it brought you here?" Mandy said brightly as she looked up with a smile on her face. "What kind of spell?"

Sighing, Bella casually waved her hand around, deciding to trust the words appearing on her screen as they had helped her before. "I got bored after taking back our home."

"Oh, I saw that! That was incredible!" The girl giggled and clapped. "I mean, you must have had so much luck with finding the right spot to cast the spell to lower the barrier around New Orleans to get your family back in."

Bella shrugged. "I don't think luck had anything to do with it, but it's the first step of ridding New Orleans of most of the werewolf population and restore balance."

"It was impressive, I honestly didn't know you had it in you."

She blinked at that. "What do you mean? Weren't you the one who brought my existence to the attention of the Mikaelsons?"

"Yeah, but I didn't know how powerful you were," Mandy huffed as she grabbed something off the table and walked towards Bella again. "I mean, even with the poison slowing you down, it's impressive."

"You know about that?"

"Of course," Mandy smiled at her. "I was the one who supplied the spelled herbs. I even spiked it with a drop of special blood that I managed to acquire. It prevents you from being saved by your family, heaven forbid someone as powerful as you should continue to live on for a bit longer. That would just be wrong."

Bella put her shield up to keep Mandy away from her and watched her as she bounced off of it. "What kind of special blood?"

[Message: The object you seek is near.]

Groaning, Bella got to her feet and rolled her shoulders as she looked at Mandy. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I applaud your thinking. Resurrect a powerful witch, make sure she has enough time to do whatever is needed to save the city and the covens and then have her go away again."

"Just a little something that doesn't like vampire blood. How many times have you thrown up yet?"

"Once," Bella smiled at her as she started to drag her leg through the basement, looking at everything while trying to keep an eye on Mandy. Something was off. "So, I actually helped more than I should have, haven't I? By reintroducing the vampires back to New Orleans?"

"Yeah, that was actually a bummer. I never thought you'd be able to get the barrier down in your weakened state. The last thing we need are vampires. Any chance you can throw the wall back up?" Mandy slyly smiled at her, revealing the pouch in her hand. If there was dust in it, some sort of herbal dust, Bella's shield would not be able to stop that from coming close to her.

Bella extended her shield a little as she observed the grimoire. "New Orleans is my family's home. They built the city into what it is now, who am I to deny them entrance?"

"Yeah, I suppose. But the poison was brilliant, wasn't it?"

"Oh yeah, absolutely. It's amazing how you managed to slow down the effects of it," she then looked up at the ceiling as if she was listening to something before looking at Mandy again. "There's no one else here, is there? It's been you all along."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Bella muttered a spell to set fire to the grimoire and pushed Mandy against a wall, as far away as possible from her. She was weakened from something in the air in the basement and from her trip to the building itself.

"Hey, you have no respect for personal property, do you?" Mandy responded angrily as she waved her arm, throwing Bella against the nearest wall, knocking the air out of her lungs. "That's my grimoire; you bitch."

Bella was still getting back to her feet and throwing her shield back up when Mandy had taken a handful of the dust and tossed it at her, causing her to cough and ingesting it.

"If only you'd have stuck to the plan," Mandy said as she managed to extinguish the fire in the grimoire while Bella was still coughing. "See, I was taught that back in the day, women were meek women who liked to obey orders. With you being married to a Mikaelson, I was hoping you were even more than that. Malleable."

"Sorry to disappoint you," Bella wheezed as she held herself up against the wall and slammed Mandy against another wall. "I don't like sticking to plans that aren't my own." Whatever she had just breathed in, it burned like hell. "So what else have you been using?"

Mandy shrugged. "Nothing. I just thought it was fun to add some further misery onto you with something extra."

"Representational Magic?"

"Oh yeah," she smiled brightly. "You used it once to influence the then mayor of New Orleans, it was pretty cool, thought it would be fun to use it on you. Mainly dunked it in a bucket of ice cold water, though."

"So, where is it now?" She was starting to feel sluggish, and it was hard to keep up her concentration and stay present. Maybe she should kill Mandy now and worry about the object later. Surely if they'd burn the house to the ground that the item would be gone as well? Kol needed to get her. She didn't like doing this without him.

"Wouldn't you like to know," Mandy laughed as she finally got to her feet. "Oh, hope you don't mind, but I've released the delay a little bit on the poison in your system. I don't want you to screw things up even further for me."

"Why are you doing this?"

Mandy shrugged. "The power is nice, I suppose. Once the current Regent is gone, I'll offer up myself to get into her place and then eradicate the Bennett witches and make New Orleans a lovely town again."

Bella groaned. Even three hundred years later, Claire witches were still power-hungry bitches. And if Mandy indeed sped up the workings of the poison, it meant that she didn't have long to live and to find a different way. Time was of the essence, and she had already flat out refused with finding her a new body. Or maybe she should. Her descendants were just as insane as Mandy; it didn't feel right to wear a Mikaelson body.

"I will stop the harvest. I mean, from what I can tell, the Regent hasn't communed with the Ancestors yet to make it a done deal so I think the Bennett witches just influenced her to do a Harvest to get rid of a few witches that are not them," Mandy continued as Bella slowly approached her. "Maybe I could ask your husband to take care of the Regent, I will tell him that this setback you're suffering from is her fault and that I came in at just the right time to get you out."

"Mandy, you're a bitch," Bella sighed as she stayed calm, what use was it to freak out about the fact that she was dying? Again? Yeah, maybe she should freak out about leaving Kol and Klaus. Again. She promised them she wasn't going to. "I do applaud your acting skills; you've fooled me, and you've fooled everyone else."

"I know, right?" Mandy smirked as her attention stayed on Bella, watching her with interest. "And I fucking hated Daisy, so it's a good thing you got rid of her too."

[Message: It's the doll on the shelf.]

Straightening up as she felt the adrenaline kick in, Bella reached for the cauldron with her magic and flung it with force against Mandy's head, knocking her unconscious in an instant. She then set the entire shelf on fire with a simple spell that didn't require her to do much but to utter the words and felt how her body got released from an invisible force, allowing her to move a little bit easier - and clumsier.

She knew she had to kill Mandy in order for the barrier that was keeping Kol out down and sighed. Bella was feeling all fizzled out; she wanted to take a nap. She stumbled towards Mandy's unconscious body and just before her legs gave out from underneath her, she managed to grab a knife from the table before falling on top of the girl.

Bella hadn't killed anyone before. Not like this. Not physically doing it herself. Sure, she had her fun with some of the Cullens, but that was different. She used her magic to do it. But she couldn't risk Mandy waking up while her batteries were recharging. It would make her a killer in the eyes of the law, it would make her a murderer, period.

But she had killed before. Just not like this.

Maybe she didn't have to kill Mandy. She could just ask the girl nicely, and maybe she'd drop it.

 _As if._

Mandy was a threat and neither Kol, Klaus or Sam would hesitate to eliminate this menace. She felt how her heart started to beat faster and how her breathing sped up. Now was not the time to get a panic attack.

She rolled off Mandy to get her breathing under control but kept her eyes on the unconscious form of the Claire descendant. If Bella allowed Mandy to live, Mandy would continue to be a pest. She'd screw things up even further for the restoration of the supernatural balance in New Orleans and just like Davina, she'd be a thorn in Klaus' side.

"Get it together, Isabella Marie Mikaelson," she told herself. "You're a fucking Mikaelson and you need to do what's best for the family. Any means necessary. You can do this."

"Damn straight," she answered herself and got to her knees before pulling Mandy up and slit her throat. It was the easiest way to kill someone, maybe not the cleanest, but it was the easiest.

Bella didn't even have time to push the body away from her because Kol had rushed right in and smiled up at him. "I did it!"

"Well done, Cuddles," he said appreciatively as he pulled the body away from Bella and lifted his wife into his arms. "But let's rejoice outside, shall we?"

She had blinked at him before it became apparent that most of the basement had already caught fire, and she had been sitting underneath a support beam that was burning. She had been so focused on Mandy that she hadn't even noticed this tiny detail. When she was outside, she started to cough, trying to get some air into her lungs and hopefully expel some of the herbs that Mandy had used on her.

It didn't escape him that something else had happened in that basement. Her complexion had turned a different shade of pale and she was covered in tiny little fragments of herbs. He could smell them on her. He bit in his wrist to offer his blood to her, but she violently shook her head. "But she's gone," he said confused. "She doesn't hold any influence over you anymore."

"It wasn't the doll," she looked up to him with sad eyes. "She added something to the poison that makes me reject your blood or any vampire blood. Some kind of special blood, she said."

"Oh, for fuck's sake," Kol whined as he held on tighter. "Can't we catch a break?"

"Get me home. Tell Klaus. I need a bath."


	15. Renewal of Life

**[The Abattoir, French Quarter, New Orleans. July 16th, 2088. 4:03 pm]**

Sam had left him alone long enough. She'd been watching him from the shadows, hearing his voice talk to a person who was no longer there. Of course, he had already proclaimed that he was all hers, just like the citizens in New Orleans, but some distance had been a good idea.

Let things percolate in that tiny brain of his. Allow him to grieve and to allow him to get used to the idea of her and the Machine working in New Orleans. Besides, she had to find a place to set up a cot and most of the hardware. The Machine didn't like the lack of surveillance, or at least the lack of the level of surveillance she was used to, and needed time to adjust, coax businesses with great deals to upgrade, gift the local cops with money to get more cameras and what not.

It was a great couple of weeks to get the lay of the land, but she and Klaus needed to talk. Now that she was close to him, she could feel this invisible pull towards him and that was as intriguing as it was scary. She wasn't quite sure what to make of it, other than feeling extremely aroused by the mere thought of Klaus underneath her as she rode the both of them to their climaxes.

[message: He's alone.]

"Gee, thanks," she muttered as she secured a gun in her leg holster and grabbed her coat as she left the apartment and headed towards Klaus' fortress.

She was stopped by some vampires before she could even enter the building. "Get your hands off of me or you'll regret it," she muttered, not looking up to them and not moving an inch.

"You have no business here."

"You bet your ass I do," Sam said as she kicked against one vampire's shin with brute force, snapping it in a million pieces - at least he let go of her. She then grabbed the other by his head and pushed him against the nearest wall. Satisfied with her handiwork, she stepped over the groaning vampires and headed straight for the stairs when she didn't see Klaus in the courtyard.

His study was upstairs, she knew that. She had listened to him walk around for days, she knew exactly where everything was. It was what she did best. Track and somewhat sniff. When she had made her presence known to him the month before, he smelled like paint, paint thinner and bourbon.

It had been intriguing to watch his interaction with this old lady before she passed, it had been a side of Klaus Sam hadn't been familiar with. There was something soft in his anger, something fragile. Something human. She was well aware that not all people saw him that way and she didn't particularly care; she found it interesting, that's all. The big bad wolf upset about an old lady who he proclaimed to be a great witch. His sister in law.

She hadn't even known he had siblings.

She opened the French doors to his study and smirked as she leaned against the doorpost. "You know, if you'd wanted to keep me out, you should have done a better job at securing this place."

"I don't care," his speech was slurred, there were empty bottles of bourbon everywhere. "Everyone left me. Bella, Kol… Elijah and Rebekah didn't even bother returning after hearing that Bella passed away…"

"I'm here."

"And how long until you leave me too? I haven't seen you in three weeks, Sameen. Three weeks! And before that, what? Eighty years?"

"You weren't ready for me, and I wasn't ready for you," she said simply. "Besides, you left me first. I had to learn things on my own."

"So, when are you going to leave again?"

Sighing, she zoomed around his study to pick up the empty bottles and threw them in an empty bag or two, cleaning the place up. She snatched the bottle out of his hand and threw it in the fireplace. "You are going to clean yourself up, and you're going to take me out to dinner. I'm hungry and you look as if you haven't had a good meal in ages."

"Piss off," Klaus spat as he wobbled on his feet.

"Fuck you," she retorted and pushed him towards the bathroom. "Do as I say or I will cut off your balls."

 **[The Abattoir, French Quarter, New Orleans. June 28th, 2089. 2:02 pm]**

Becky, Bella and Kol's great great granddaughter, was visiting him with her children. Her first born Nick - much to Klaus' dismay, the boy's other name was Damon -, her second born KJ, Kol Jasper Mikaelson and her newborn Charles. It was the first anniversary of Bella's death and Becky, bless her heart, wanted to be sure that Klaus was alright and show off the lastest addition to the family.

Klaus liked KJ. He was the last baby Bella saw born and was introduced to and he reminded him about his own daughter, Hope, when she was so little. He had high hopes for KJ. Even as an almost two year old, the boy showed so much potential, and for a second born, it was even more exceptional. His brother Nick barely showed anything; he was more of an enforcer. No doubt he'd end up doing something in law enforcement.

All of Bella and Kol's progyny had paid him a visit over the last year, and he hated every moment of it. It hurt. Every child had at least some of their features and mannerisms and he'd rather have them stop worrying. He had Sameen now, and his Sameen was all he needed.

But, all Becky wanted to do was proudly show off her newest sprog. And he was ugly. Babies were ugly. They were adorable but they all looked the same in the end. She was telling Klaus about she was going to take Charlie to be blessed by the regents, in the hope that like all Mikaelson children, Charlie would be able to survive the Mikaelson insanity.

After Bella and Kol had successfully been appointed as regents of the covens of New Orleans, they made new rules. Such as the position as regent was always going to be governed by two witches. Not one. The position simply held too much power for one witch to handle. This was also a safeguard to hold the regent accountable for their actions and much to all the witches' surprise, the ancestors agreed with Bella and Kol's ideas to reform.

However, he didn't quite like Becky's remark of the family being insane and neither did Sameen, who was already quick to put the baby stroller/carriage combination out of the gate and she was patiently waiting for Becky to rejoin her children. "I suggest you make yourself scarce, little dove," Klaus said, his tone of voice low in warning. "Don't cause too much trouble along the way and you shall survive our insanity. Now that your grandmother is gone, there's nothing that will hold me back in eradicating you all to prevent a whole bunch of powerful witches ruining this city."

"Powerful indeed," Becky replied, sending Klaus flying across the courtyard and Sameen after him as she rejoined her children. "Bite me, uncle."

"Do not tempt me!" He called after her as she walked away with her children.

Sam got to her feet with a growl and rubbed her ass as she looked at Klaus. "You really think that their magic will ruin the city?"

"It will tear this place apart. Not only that, it will tear the family apart. We need to control it if we want to be able to live a normal, quiet life instead of cleaning up after them all the time," he grumbled as he, too, got to his feet.

"Alright," Sam said, agreeing after a quick moment of calculations. "Let me run that by our friend, have her set up some sort of diagram with a projected growth and what not. See where we can strike best."

"You agree?" Klaus blinked at her. "You agree to killing family?"

She shrugged. "If it prevents a disaster, then yes. Too much power for one family isn't a good thing anyway, if everything I read and heard in the last year is true."

Smiling widely, he poured himself a glass of bourbon.

"I draw the line at killing children and infants," she stated as she moved to the table and got herself something to drink as well. "And we'll consider every name, every human, our friend comes up with."

Klaus thought for a moment and then slowly nodded. It felt strange to have someone at his side like this, and he was certain that Bella would have understood his reasoning, his fear. Never would he have thought that Sameen would agree with him as they were going to kill innocent humans for the greater good. However, he was glad that she was. "You have yourself a deal, Sameen."

 **[Almonaster Ave, New Orleans. September 9th, 2106. 4:08 am]**

"I'm sorry, I didn't know who else to call," KJ coughed, his blood spluttering out of his mouth, going everywhere but back inside his body. "Mom will kill me if I ever get my ass back to LA."

"What happened?" Klaus asked as he propped the boy up against him. Barely twenty years old and the boy was dying from an obvious car crash. He reeked of alcohol and drugs. Even though Klaus didn't speak to Becky anymore, he had kept tabs on KJ as he grew into a young man, despite him being on the other coast. Klaus had spies everywhere and he had been grateful to them.

He hadn't been pleased when the boy went off the rails about five years ago after his father Joel died in a shooting related incident, leaving Becky alone with four children, the oldest barely 18. As expected, Becky hadn't taken too well to the death of her husband either, and she struggled with the raising of her children and her own grief.

KJ had so much potential, and he had been wasting it. It had been a simple matter of applying himself and sticking to it, but he never got the push, the support, he needed.

Which, ultimately, lead to this unfortunate night. What was he doing in New Orleans anyway?

"We had a party in the area…" KJ wheezed as Klaus tried to keep the boy in one piece. "Alcohol, drugs… women… I might have taken something bad and wandered here…"

Klaus sighed as he bit his hand and had the young man drink from him. "Tell me, KJ, what do you want from me? Just my healing ability?"

He shook his head. "I want to die. I don't want to be like this anymore, uncle. I'm a loser."

"Hardly. And you do not wish to die as you've willingly drank from my blood just now."

"I want to be better. Stronger. I want to be able to protect Josie when mom goes out for a drink…I want to die, but I don't."

He had to start somewhere, hadn't he? Sure, his plan was to kill most of the Mikaelson line, keeping the first line mainly intact up until now, but what if he could turn his favourite into a vampire like himself? Teach him. Make him a better person and simply teach him? "I need to hear you say it, KJ," he said softly. Sameen was going to laugh at him. He knew for a fact that she was going to because he was showing that he cared maybe a little too much about his family despite it being already far removed as it was.

"Uncle Klaus, please… please turn me, I'll be good. I'll be better."

 **[Accessing current feeds]**

 **[The Abattoir, French Quarter, New Orleans. January 27th, 2311. 6:03 pm]**

Bella had passed out in his arms the moment they left the building on the cemetery and he didn't stop to watch the building go up in flames. She needed to get home, he doubted that she had much longer to live.

And that made him angry. She wasn't allowed to leave him. She had promised. Bella had promised him, and Nik, that she wasn't going to leave them again. And Mandy made sure that Bella couldn't be turned either due to the use of 'special blood' and it didn't require a genius to figure out that she had either found a doppelganger and used the doppelganger's blood or a Gilbert as the cure was still running through their veins - but didn't Nik tell him that he and made sure that they were all gone?

If Mandy knew about the cure, maybe other witches would too.

"We have a problem," Kol said as he tucked Bella in bed. "Well, we have several problems," he sighed as he sat down on the edge of the bed and looked at his siblings and Sameen.

"What happened?" Klaus demanded as he looked at the pale Bella. She was covered in blood, but it wasn't hers. At least not the majority of it. "Were you successful?"

"A building appeared in the cemetery, it was probably cloaked before, and I couldn't enter," Kol ran his hand through his hair. "Bella went in on her own but she was already dead on her feet before she entered the building. Not quite sure what happened inside other than Bella kicking ass, destroying the object Mandy used to influence her and killed Mandy. Only then I could go in and help Bella."

"If the threat is gone, why haven't you cured her yet?" Klaus. Oved to Bella and bit his hand so he could feed his brother's mate his blood, but was surprised when Kol forcibly pulled Klaus away from her. "Bloody hell!"

"Just because she eliminated the threat doesn't mean she's fine, Nik!" Kol spat as he moved himself between Bella and his brother. "The poison still rages through her system, even more so now that her body isn't manipulated anymore through representational magic! The bitch not only used spells and herbs, but also a special kind of blood that rejects ALL vampire blood."

"That's impossible! We made sure Elena's line ended a long time ago!"

Elijah pursed his lips as he watched his siblings quarrel. "We all know that Elena was very smart, what if she somehow managed to hide one of her children? If I recall, she had many."

"And it's possible it's not even Gilbert blood, what if there's another doppelganger?" Kol offered, causing Klaus to grimace. "We need to do something."

"I could pay a visit to the witches who asked me for their help, you know, your distant family?" Sam offered and when the heads of Kol and Klaus snapped to her, she nodded, saluted and spat off.

"Is there anything we can do?" Rebekah asked softly. "Have Elijah and myself visit the regent?"

"No," Kol growled. "That's Bella's job and as long as she's still breathing, she wouldn't want any of us to deal with it."

"You and Elijah need to focus on taking out more werewolves and make us a bigger army. Take KJ with you if you so please," Klaus told his sister. "I know it's not what you'd like to do right now, but please."

"I understand, you don't wish for neither myself or Elijah to be here, Nik, but you are not the only ones who care for her."

Klaus let out a growl and pushed his sister out of the room. "You have no right," he said angrily. "Yes, you were there to help dispose of her problems but once all of that was done, you and Elijah left. When Kol and Bella returned to New Orleans, you didn't. Not even for her consecration!"

"Nik!" Rebekah said, hurt bleeding through in her voice.

"Don't."

Elijah was smart enough to leave the room on his own. "Very well, brother," he said calmly, understanding that he and his sister had, indeed, fallen from their brother's graces and they had a lot to make up for. "Come, Rebekah, let us play with some wolves."

 **[The Abattoir, French Quarter, New Orleans. Ancestral Plane. January 27th, 2311. 6:32 pm]**

She had been on this side before and like this, alone. But the last time had been as an old lady, ready to say goodbye to Klaus and join Kol in the had been easy then, to say goodbye, mainly because she'd been ready. Done.

But now? She wished she could have stuck around a little longer. She had promised both Kol and Klaus she wouldn't die on them, at least not this soon and it hurt to be on this side again and see her boys in so much pain. So much anger. It wasn't fair that they got to live on and she had to fade away again.

All she wanted was to hug Klaus and her husband and tell them that everything was going to be alright. She hoped everything was going to be alright, she trusted them to make sure everything would be alright, but it wasn't fair.

Bella tried to go back to her body; she wasn't completely gone yet. She could go back, couldn't she?

"Is it harder, the second time?"

Bella turned around and smiled when she saw the familiar face of her daughter, Nina. She was slightly older than Bella remembered, but it was her. Nina had always looked a lot like Kol - Kaleb - with her beautiful bone structure and her pretty eyes. Then, of course, was the height. "Oh, wow, Nina!" Bella laughed and hugged her tightly.

"Hi mom," Nina gently rubbed Bella's back before letting go of her. "Is it harder, the second time?"

Bella sighed and nodded as she followed Nina's gaze to see her father and uncle bicker through their frustration. "I promised them."

"Mother," Nina sighed. "You know very well not to make promises you can't keep."

"I am not done!" Bella said as she pointed towards her family. "I was brought back to create order among the witches and I haven't been able to do that yet because someone poisoned me!"

"I know, it's unfair, but mom, they shouldn't have resurrected you in the first place."

"I know that!" Bella blurted, angry at her daughter for no reason at all, just someone who was there to get angry at. "But they did and nobody did a fucking thing to stop it from happening!"

"No, because we thought that dad had earned it to see you again."

"But what about me? I- I can't leave them again, Nina."

Her daughter sucked in a breath and nodded. "I'm allowed to give you one full day in full control and in full health over _this_ body so you can get your affairs in order. The ancestors understand that you are a powerful witch and you have done a lot for the community. You, too, deserve a break." She then smiled and moved closer. "What you do with your time in _this_ body is all up to you, mother."

 **[The Abattoir, French Quarter, New Orleans. January 27th, 2311. 7:14 pm]**

"But it isn't fair, Nik! I'm used to being daggered and resurrected and what have you, but those witches broke the agreement Bella and I set up by bringing her back! And now she's dying because Claire witches are still bitches!"

"I know it isn't fair, brother," Klaus shot back at him. "Do you think I'm happy about this? She deserves better than this fate, and we all know it."

"I'm going to kill them all," Kol grumbled. "If she dies - when she dies, I will kill them all."

"And I'll be happy to assist you with that."

"You will do no such thing," Bella said, her voice strong and powerful as she sat up and cast a spell to remove the cast around her leg. "Stop fighting, we have work to do and not much time to do it."

She got out of bed and went to retrieve some clean clothes before looking back at the stunned faces before her. "The Ancestors owe me. I have a day. Nina says hi. I'm going to take a quick shower while you two fetch me all the books from our playhouse in the Cemetery. And get me something to eat."

When they didn't move, she crossed her arms over each other. "What?"

He was simply at a loss for words. One moment his wife, his soulmate, was dying and now she was walking around like a spring chicken, even her fractured ankle had become healthy again. "You-"

"I'm real," Bella smiled at Kol before walking over and kissing him tenderly. "Back at full power, loads of juice and I'm not going to stop before we fix all of this. Got it?"

"Got it, Cuddles," he smiled and kissed her again.

"Go get me food and all the books," she grinned as she pushed him away and headed to the bathroom. "We have a lot of work to do!"


	16. The Blurring Of Lines

**[The Abattoir, French Quarter, New Orleans. March 13rd, 2115. 2:50 pm]**

KJ was excited, his big brother Nick was coming to New Orleans, and he had missed him. Klaus thought it was adorable to see someone excited about a sibling returning, and it had been a very long time since he, himself, had been that excited to see his siblings again.

Rebekah and Elijah were still out of town. Rebekah made a habit of checking in on the Mikaelson family line, being the doting aunt to some, hated by others. No doubt Elijah was doing the same, but in his way or maybe he wasn't even on the same continent anymore. Klaus could understand that his siblings wanted distance from him, that Bella and Kol filled the void, but on the other hand, it would have been nice to see them again.

But Nick coming to New Orleans worried him. Unlike the rest of the family - so far, Nick decided to do something entirely different with the powers given to him by his ancestors Bella and Kol. He had turned himself into some con man, a paranormal investigator, a magician or whatever. Working for the silly humans with their simple minds. Of course, Klaus knew a lot of those people as they worked in New Orleans too, but none was as powerful as Nick.

At least Nick wasn't going to go for regent of the covens. Sameen had asked their mutual friend about the possibility of Nick relocating, and the Machine had told her that the chances were slim. He had left his wife and son in Texas. After it had checked all the reasons why Nick would be in New Orleans and coming up with nothing, Klaus grew worried.

With his line of work, Nick had acquired a lot of contacts with a lot of different witches, shamans and other supernatural beings and Klaus had been impressed by that. From what the Machine told them, Nick's list could rival their own. Nick would be a great asset to have on his side, in his army, but unfortunately, he was the first born of this generation and Klaus left those alone.

It was tempting, however, seeing as Nick had already produced one child.

He and Sameen watched as KJ welcomed his sibling to the compound, they had allowed them to meet there, seeing as they were family after all. He was surprised that after hugging KJ, Nick immediately went straight for Klaus. "We need to talk."

"Well hello to you too," Sam said as she casually sipped her coffee. "Long time, no see… well never, to be honest."

Nick smiled at her. "Hello, Sameen. Your lackeys have been keeping an eye on me so don't tell me you've never seen my face."

Sam shrugged and continued to drink her coffee.

Klaus expected as much that Nick only came to New Orleans to talk. "It must be pressing news that you wish to speak to me about," he said as he pointed to a chair. "Please, sit."

Nick did as Klaus told him to and sighed. "I've heard the news, and it's not good. While you've been trying to make sure that your family didn't grow out of control like the rats that we are, other influential witch families have been growing out of proportion and are now making their way to New Orleans, to take over."

"What is it about New Orleans that they'd like? Can't they leave us in peace?" Sam asked. They had destroyed a few werewolf families over the last few months upon the New Orleans witches' request as they, too, were allowed to grow in numbers. But it was in their own territory.

"I suppose witches migrate, just as most vampires and werewolves do," Nick said as he helped himself to the coffee pot and poured the liquid into one of the other mugs on the table. "Honestly, staying in one place for a long time is no fun."

"I wasn't one to really wander, why to start now?" Klaus watched Nick like a hawk. Even though generations removed, he reminded him of his brother Kol. "I suppose wanderlust is in your genes, with Kol being your ancestor."

"We all know that technically, we're not Mikaelsons and just carry the name," Nick snorted and shook his head. "For which we're grateful, of course. Your name opens a lot of doors in the supernatural community."

"What witches are going to make a play for New Orleans? My lieutenant already spoke of several families moving in from out of state, he and some of the Claire witches are keeping an eye on them."

"The worst of them all. The rabble rousers. Salem witches. The Bennetts," He replied mournfully. "And you should know better than to trust Claire witches, especially with your history."

Klaus sneered at that.

"I'm not telling you what to do, just that you have to be careful. The Bennett witches want more power, they want access to the powers of the Regents and they want access to ancestral magic. For what reason? It's unclear as of now, but my guess is that they want to turn New Orleans into a safe haven for witches of all walks of life. New Orleans is isolated from the rest of the country, it makes sense."

"New Orleans is my town. They're not going to take it," he snapped. "As I said, we have it under control."

"No, you don't." Nick spat at him, not flinching at the hybrid as he sneered again and shifted in his seat. "If you truly want to keep your beloved city yours, I suggest you remove the new witches from your city to prevent dead vampires."

"Why do you care?"

"Why don't you care?" He shot back at Klaus. "Your city, you said. Do you want it to be run by witches or do you want to keep your delicate balance?"

A vampire ground to a halt next to Nick, and he blinked before hugging him. "Brother!"

"Hey Eddie," Nick smiled at him. "What's the hurry?"

"Klaus, you need to come," Edward said to his boss. "Something's happened. Marcel-"

"Whatever it is, Marcel can deal with it," Klaus said to the young vampire. "I was having a nice chat with your brother."

"Marcel's dead. A group of new witches tore him apart while we were heading back to his apartment in Algiers. I barely escaped."

Nick simply smirked. "Told ya."

 **[The Abattoir, French Quarter, New Orleans. May 25th, 2260. 5:32 am]**

Maybe turning Duke Remus Mikaelson, great great grandson of Bella and Kol, son of Nick, hadn't been such a great idea, but hindsight was always 20/20, wasn't it? The young man had been trouble to begin with, but he'd been looking for a good replacement for Marcel, who'd been gone for 40 years now.

It was proving difficult to place his dear Marcel. His first attempt at replacing him had been KJ, who had been mentored by Marcel for a good few years, but the boy was still unpredictable, and he didn't seem to be able to gain the respect of the other vampires. Duke, however, was a trained fighter, and he was always getting into trouble with the police. To save his parents some more grief and headaches, Klaus had his vampires take Duke out of New York and turned him when he laid eyes on him.

Duke was a big fellow. Angry. Strong. Even stronger as a vampire. And for a good while, Duke served him well, until he found different interests. Until his anger consumed him and became a ripper. It took some time to get him out of that stage, and by then it was too late. James had put up the barrier and Duke wanted to take him out while he was being evicted from New Orleans.

Granted, Klaus was pissed off beyond imagining when it happened, but he knew it had only been a matter of time. They had been killing too many Mikaelsons over the cause of a period and sooner or later someone would get pissed off about it. But, he also knew that it was only a matter of time before they could enter New Orleans again and wasn't too vengeful about it.

However, it was now months since it happened and getting back into New Orleans and killing James had become an obsession for young Duke. Even generations apart, Klaus could see Bella's determination in him and probably his arrogance, but instead of trying to keep things together like a real leader should, he was unraveling. Fast.

"I'm sorry," Sameen said as she watched Duke from her position. The vampire had rallied all of them together in the beautiful town square of Mystic Falls and was spewing nonsense again. This time he wanted to go after the few Bennett witches in Mystic Falls. "But if we wish to keep the peace in this town, he has to go."

It was never good to piss off witches. But the Bennett witches didn't have anything to do with what James Edward Mikaelson had done. Far from it, he had been of sound mind and true heart. The best intentions as possible. Of course, Klaus would have loved to slaughter some of Bonnie Bennett's descendants, they were all as equally annoying as the witch had been, but his Sameen was right.

Klaus watched as Sameen leapt up and ripped out Duke's heart in one quick movement. "Now, listen up, you idiots," she said as she held his heart in her hand as the body dropped to the floor. "We will not retaliate by killing witches that didn't have anything to do with what happened to us in New Orleans. We're simply going to start a new life, here. If you do not want to stay here, you're more than welcome to leave and seek your fortune elsewhere."

Klaus blinked at that. He and Sameen had not agreed to that, but perhaps she was right. Mystic Falls was a small town after all, and if they wanted to play things safe, their numbers had to severely diminish. Maybe it would be better if they'd go somewhere else for the time being. His hometown wouldn't fall off the face of the Earth any time soon, and maybe a change of scenery would be good.

However, he didn't want to stray too far from what he knew. "Relocate to wherever you want, however, be aware that we can call upon you at a moment's notice, and we'd like you to come back when we do. Have I made myself clear?"

He saw some faces nod and then speed off. "Anyone else wishes to leave?" When no one spoke up, he let out a deep breath. "Then let's move to our temporary location before the sun rises, seeing as most of you haven't earned your rings yet."

 **[Accessing current feeds]**

 **[The Abattoir, French Quarter, New Orleans. January 27th, 2311. 10:44 pm]**

Bella was stuffing her face when Kol and Klaus returned with the grimoires she had requested. They both didn't quite understand what had happened other than it involving the Ancestors and had made it their mission to ask Bella once she had calmed down somewhat.

But even when stuffing her face, she was in a frenzy.

"Bella, stop," Kol said as he put his pile of books on the table and moved to her to stop her from eating. "Take a breath."

"There's no time," she whined. "I have 24 hours… 21 hours left in this body. I can't fix the mess with the witches in a day; there's no way that even with your help that they're going to listen or heal."

"Tough. You need to slow down. Otherwise you'll drive yourself crazy, and you're going to miss something," Kol lifted her up and turned her away from the books and the food. "It's great that you're buzzing with energy and that you're more than healthy for a day. You're so powered up on magic that you forget to tune it down, filter it. Don't allow it to take you over."

"I'm not."

"Yet."

She eyed him before letting out a loud burp. "Sorry, I ate too fast," she apologized and then sighed. "You're right. I suppose I could spare one hour. What do you want to do?"

"I want you to relax before you bring down the building," he said with a grin. "You need to take control over every sensation you're currently experiencing. Your fear, your anxiety, but also your hope and your wishes."

"Oh goodie," Sam remarked as she stood in the doorway. "I just arrived at the right time to pull Klaus away from the boring shit." She then winked at Bella. "Good to see you don't like to stay dead either, Bella."

Klaus turned to his mate, surprised to see her in one piece and moved to her to kiss her. "How did it go? Did you learn anything?"

Sam sighed as she put her arms around Klaus' neck and pulled him out of Bella and Kol's room. "I tried my best not to kill them; I suspect they were manipulated by Mandy like Bella had been, although some of them were quite content when they heard that Bella was dying. Something about the biggest mistake they ever made. I guess when people are desperate they don't think correctly." She jerked her head towards the room. "Divine witchy intervention?"

Klaus grumbled as he nodded his head. "I am not sure why she wanted us to get the grimoires. There could be a variety of reasons, but I'm sure that once Kol calms her down, she'll tell us."

"You think we're going to be up all night?"

He smiled at that. "Given the limited time given by the ancestors, I suppose so."

Sam groaned. "I need coffee."

Klaus' head snapped to the entrance of the courtyard and was on the human before it could even blink. "You have some guts to walk through those doors," he said threatening, pushing the human against the gate. "Old man."

"Yes, and as an old man, I expect to be treated as such," the man scowled, pushing Klaus away with his index finger. "I come in peace, old man."

"Peace," Klaus huffed.

"Hey, I saw you at the witches when they asked me for their help," Sam said as she moved beside her mate. "You said your father was responsible for the barrier."

Duke nodded slowly. "I'm Duke Oliver Mikaelson, ma'am, not to be confused with Duke Remus, who's been in your vampire army for years."

Klaus let out a grunt as Sam pushed herself between him and Duke.

Sam nodded. "I killed him 50 years ago for wanting to go after your father."

They had the Machine track all of the Mikaelsons for them because Klaus didn't mean to have any personal dealings with his extended family. There were so many of them, and it was hard to keep track, but the Machine had a great and expansive mind. She didn't forget. She told them who to kill - even though it was against her programming. Sam had reasoned with her, that it was important that they kept the amount of Mikaelsons to a bearable, tolerable, level, so there was less chance of them wanting to kill people. It was for the greater good that they were checked.

The perimeters had been easy enough; every first-born survived and their children. Or, once technology started to take over, the Machine made sure that all the other lines were made infertile without them knowing about it. It wasn't ideal, but Klaus was a paranoid fucker, obsessive, even. She had begged the Machine - a machine - to do this so that Klaus wouldn't go crazy and obsessive about it all; she wanted him sane.

For years, Sam had cursed Bella and Kol for making babies in the first place, but she could understand a basic human need to created clones of themselves. But, had Klaus eliminated everyone after Bella and Kol died, maybe they wouldn't be in this mess in the first place.

While Sam didn't hold a grudge against Duke because of who his father was, Klaus was less inclined to let bygones be just that.

"Oh, well, good to be the only Duke then," Duke replied, focusing his attention to Sameen. "I saw you leave the loft today. Do you trust them?"

"No."

"Good, you shouldn't."

"I don't trust you either."

"Good," Duke said with a slight smirk on his face before looking at Klaus, who looked as if he was eating himself from the inside. "Relax, I have no witchy powers. I'm not a vampire. I'm not a werewolf. I'm just an old geezer, and I'm offering you my help."

"What could you possibly have to offer?" Klaus demanded as he walked back into the courtyard. He had made the decision to keep the man alive as long as he gave them the information they could use.

Duke followed Klaus, undeterred with the other vampire following him. "Unlike any of you, I know my family. At least what's left of it. I know the ones who are willing to change and the ones who want to use Bella to grab the regent position for themselves."

Klaus couldn't help but sneer at that. "You could have warned Sameen about Mandy."

"Mandy is a Claire."

"Was a Claire," Klaus pointed out. "But I suppose the word of her recent demise hasn't reached you yet."

"And your point? A Claire is a Claire. They've been deviant little bitches for centuries." Duke stopped dead in his tracks. "Mandy's dead?"

"As you said, she was a deviant little wench," Klaus countered as he sat down in one of the chairs they had put in the courtyard for the vampires who were out all night protecting them. He wasn't inclined on taking Duke anywhere other than have him in the courtyard. "While there is no doubt that your little witches had a hand in poisoning Bella to make sure she'd be dead again after helping them with their problem - concerning the state of the witches, Mandy had other plans and managed to influence Bella in a different way," he explained and then a broad smile appeared on his face. "Safe to say that Mandy's learnt her lesson after Bella confronted her."

"Of course, they're Mikaelsons. Even with the chip in their heads they are conniving little girls," Duke said as a matter of factly. "However, they're not all that bad. There is some truth to their madness."

"Such as?"

"The regent's insanity and the way the Bennett witches influence her. They have a handful of werewolves in their pocket too; she's well protected."

"And yet, Kol and Bella were able to walk on the Cemetery with ease."

"Because they're not there. They're hiding out near the Old Lakewood Golf Club, in one of the mansions on Lennox Boulevard."

"Of course they are. Why make it easy?"

Duke smiled at that. "Surely with a reputation like yours you already have a plan?"

Klaus didn't say anything. Their numbers had faltered, quickly, in the last few days. Every time he sent out a handful of vampires to go after some of the werewolves and chase them out of the quarter and back towards the Bayou and the Ninth Ward, only half of them returned if they were lucky.

"Scouting trip?" Sam smiled brightly. "My friend and I are itching for one."

"Be careful. I'd like to come with, but I don't want to leave this geezer alone."

"Don't kill him."

"I won't, I believe he's telling the truth."

"Good," Sam smirked before running upstairs to get her things. "A good old fashioned hunt is just what I need!" She called out from upstairs before coming back down and kissed Klaus. "See you later. Have fun."

 **[The Abattoir, French Quarter, New Orleans. January 28th, 2311. 12:21 am]**

Once he had Bella somewhat centered and calm, Kol decided it was time to invite the rest of the family back so that Bella could explain her plan, what she was doing - or wanted to do anyway. She mentioned something along the lines of having a surprise for Sameen as well, but seeing as she was still trying to get eyes on the Regent and the Bennett witches, she wasn't there, and Bella was simply going to make it a big surprise.

Kol hated it that Bella didn't want to share what it was. He hated secrets, especially when his wife had them. He liked it, though that she didn't want to leave him, that she wanted to stay and he suspected that her plan had something to do with it - and he liked it.

"Are you all fed and not going to rip off my head if I say things you don't like?" Bella smirked as she looked at the vampires sitting at the table. She was sitting on top of it, surrounded by her books, just like old times. But in a different body.

"You've strategically placed yourself in the middle of us; I'm sure you have a nice little spell that will blow us all away if we so much attempt to drink from you," Klaus looked at his sister-in-law. "Besides, when have we ever taken a bite out of you?"

Bella smirked. "August 8th, 2050. From me and Kol."

"What?"

"You've forgotten?" She grinned. "Nina's kid had accidentally cursed you, and you had to drink from the both of us to cure you of it."

Klaus huffed. "I always thought it was an elaborate plot from you and Kol to experience what it felt like to be fed upon."

"Aha! But you did drink from us!"

"And you tasted very nice, now, get on with it, your time is limited, if I remember correctly," Klaus said, apparently not amused.

"Yep, but it doesn't have to be," Bella said as she pointed at her books. "Look, I love you guys, you're my family, but I also know how conniving you are and what you are capable of when you're bored."

"What do you mean?"

"I knew you were going to resurrect Kol eventually, despite his wishes," she smirked and pointed at her husband. "I also knew that eventually, Kol would want me back. So, after he died, I spent most of my days doing research. It's one thing to resurrect an Original vampire; it's pretty straightforward magic. It needs a lot of power, sure, but it's pretty straight forward as your body doesn't age, even when they're ash."

"I wouldn't say it was straightforward," Klaus said, mumbling. "It cost me a lot of money to pay the right witch to do so. To find her, in the first place, someone who didn't have any ties to our lives, knowledge of who we are."

"It were a handful of ingredients and a spell or two, yes?" Bella smiled at Klaus before sighing. "Anyway, I left instructions with Hope, that, should the need arise, she'd be able to resurrect me."

"Hope?" Klaus blinked. He hadn't seen his daughter in a very long time. Hope was like her mother, free spirited and doing whatever she pleased. He wouldn't be surprised if Hope lived among the werewolves in secret. "Why her?"

"She's a powerful witch. She's a tribrid. She's a Mikaelson. Would you like me to continue?"

"Look, I want to extend my life so I can help the witches find their balance again, kick those other witches out and deal with the werewolves. Help you with it. I can't do that in this body. There's a time limit on this one."

"Cuddles? You want to hijack a healthy body?" Kol smiled hopeful.

"No. Well, yes, probably. If this fails. But I prefer to have my own back so that nobody else has to sacrifice themselves," Bella smiled at him. "I died an old lady, but with these spells, I can rewind time for my bones and skin. Hopefully. I mean, I was old when I thought of this combination, and I was probably losing my mind." She ran a hand through her hair and sighed. "If this fails, you might have to find someone that's aesthetically pleasing, and we'll get me in that."

Elijah and Rebekah had remained quiet until now, but they had been listening intently. "Won't the Ancestors be infuriated with you for cheating death?" Elijah inquired.

"Of course, but my daughter alerted me to the loophole. This body has 24 hours in full health. Everything else is me. So, this body. She never said anything about me jumping bodies or resurrecting myself. I figure that if I do it without casualties, I can get away with it."

"But dead is dead."

"Not always," Bella said with a smirk. "I'll deal with the consequences myself, but they need my help and by the time they want to sanction me for abuse of power, I'll have fulfilled my duties as a witch."

Kol's smirk grew wide. "Are you saying?"

"I am, if you want me to."

"I do! Very much so!" Kol got up from his seat and kissed her. "You are brilliant! What do you need?"

Bella blinked when the door opened, and Hope walked in with a bag. "Greetings family, I come bearing some old bones!"


	17. Come back to me

**[The Abattoir, French Quarter, New Orleans. January 28th, 2311. 12:34 am]**

"Hope," Klaus greeted her with a big smile.

"Father," she unceremoniously dropped the bag holding Bella's bones to the floor and hugged him. "Glad you have returned to New Orleans. Excuse the clothes and smell. Word travels slowly when you're wolfed out in the Bayou. I couldn't believe mother when she conveyed that she had been chased by vampires."

"Yes, how do you communicate?" Kol smirked as he relaxed in his chair. "Granted, it was fun to chase Hayley for sport."

Hope huffed. She wasn't amused. "I knew there was a reason I preferred the company of my pack," she countered before letting go of Klaus. "So," she said as she looked at Bella. "You're already resurrected? Damn it, I wanted to be all badass and surprise everyone."

"How did you know she was back?" Elijah looked Hope over. She looked like her mother, with her dark features, but it was still clear that she was a Mikaelson. It felt good to see her again. He wished that the girl didn't look so bewildered and ill at ease among them, it would be great to catch up with her.

"That's none of your business, uncle," Hope snapped at him. "You and Aunt Rebekah have no right to know every single detail."

"Watch your tongue."

Hope growled and waved her hand, shutting Elijah up, earning smiles from Kol, Klaus and Bella. "Where's Sam?"

"Out. She'll be back shortly," Klaus said pleasantly. "I would love to have a proper reunion with you, Hope, but we're a little short on time. Bella was just about to tell us what she needed from us to help."

"I'll let the adults talk while I take a quick shower and grab some food. I'm starving." Hope flashed a wolfish grin before running off.

"Well. I suppose you won't have to dig me up…" Bella mused as she looked at the bag on the floor, a bone sticking out from it. "Gross."

"Pretty bones," Kol said as he picked up the bag and had a peek inside. "Brittle bones. Are you sure you can fix that?"

"I'll have to. There is no way I'm going to walk around like a 95-year-old for the rest of my life."

"Why not?" he mused. "Senior citizen discount forever!"

"Because it's so wrong in so many ways," Bella shuddered as she handed Klaus a note. "I need these things," she said before holding up another note for Kol, with more magical specialised ingredients. "And you can get me that. Some of that is in a box in our playhouse, get me the entire box." She conjured a bucket and a spade and handed it over to Elijah. "I need some hallowed ground from you. Not consecrated soil, but hallowed."

'Why?' he mouthed, still not able to speak.

"Because that spell needs to be done with as little interference as possible and if you take consecrated ground, the chances are that the Ancestors will interfere," Bella explained before looking at Rebekah. "You're staying here to watch over Hope and me until Sam gets back."

"I hope she has bitten off more than she can chew," Rebekah muttered, not particularly liking Sameen. It was one thing that Kol and Bella had taken her and Elijah's place next to Nik's side, but with Sameen's introduction? Sameen was even worse with holding a grudge and holding on to resentment than her brother was. "I hope she chokes on it."

Klaus growled, but Bella was faster as she threw Rebekah against a wall. "Out of respect to you and Elijah for what you've done for me in the past, I won't cast you out. But you two better start playing nice and accept that you're on nearly everyone's shitlist before I make sure that the both of you are going to be in physical agony for the rest of your lives."

"It won't stick when you die."

Kol huffed. "Don't challenge her, you know she'll find a way."

 **[The Abattoir, French Quarter, New Orleans. January 28th, 2311. 4:01 am]**

Bella knew that despite giving the notes to vampires, they'd need several hours to get what she needed to do the spell. In the time that they were gone, she had moved her books and her bones to an empty room in the compound and had warded it against Ancestral magic and perhaps also Ancestral peekage. Hope helped her with that while she talked about her adventures as a wolf. The only thing that Hope had missed was human food. The raw diet made her sick to her stomach.

Bella didn't understand why Hope, and all the other Crescent wolves, hadn't been ejected from New Orleans when the barrier went up, but Hope had a natural explanation; they had all been in their wolf form, therefore classifying as a werewolf and not a vampire.

"Ah, so here you are," Sam's voice sounded from behind them. When Bella turned around, she saw her standing casually against the doorpost. "I love what you've done with the place; it's very…"

"Magical?" Hope snorted.

"No, I was going for Feng Shui, but I suppose that works, too," she replied and then nodded at Hope. "Good to see you again, Hope."

"And you," Hope grinned. "Bella's already promised to cook us a big reunion dinner when we're done with this."

"Oh, really?"

"Yep!"

"I can't wait. Where's Klaus?"

"I think he's still out hunting down some ingredients we're going to need," Bella said as she looked up from her books with a smile. "How would you feel if I say that I can make you indestructible like Klaus? Would you like that?"

Sam blinked at her and sucked in a breath. "Oh, I don't know… Can I think about it?"

"Sure, that spell can wait."

"Are you going to do it?"

Bella let out a breath and nodded. "Eventually, when I'm done, yes. I thought long and hard about it when I was collecting all these spells because I like to believe that dead is dead, but the whole supernatural business makes it a bit of a weird thought. I think that eventually, Kol will move on when I'm gone, but I'm also sure that he wouldn't mind my company for the rest of his life."

"Especially with Elijah and Rebekah's antics?"

"Oh yeah. Seems like Always and Forever ends for them after 1000 years," Bella muttered as she went over the books again to check if she was missing something. "But think about it, there's plenty of time. You're pretty indestructible already so… no rush."

"The regent is very well protected, I doubt Klaus will want you to go by yourself to pay her a visit," Sam eventually said.

"I'm not going alone. I never said I was going alone. I'm not stupid."

"But you went alone to New Orleans to lower the barrier -"

"It wasn't as if you lot could get in," Bella countered, turning around to face Sameen.

"And you went up against Mandy by yourself -"

Bella smirked. "Not by choice. I wasn't alone in that instance. Try again."

"There was this fun trip to Italy where you went up against the Volturi all by yourself because you drugged me," Kol's voice sounded before he rounded the corner. "You could have been killed."

"Could have, but didn't. They shouldn't have pissed me off," Bella got to her feet and kissed him as a greeting. "Besides, haven't I been a good girl since then?" She batted her lashes at him.

"The jury's still out on that yet," he said with a snort and returned her kiss before handing her the bag with items and herbs she wanted him to pick up. "Nik not back yet?"

"Soon, I think." She put her arms around him and hugged him tightly. "Are you really okay with all this?" She asked quietly as she looked up to him. "Me sticking around for a bit longer?"

Kol grinned. "Well, as long as we can continue what we used to do…"

"Uhuh…"

"Oh, Cuddles, you have no idea how much I want to kill you. The impatience is killing me, but alas, I shall have to wait for a little bit longer."

"Oh, I'm going to barf," Sam muttered.

 **[The Abattoir, French Quarter, New Orleans. January 28th, 2311. 6:21 am]**

"Ready?" Bella asked Hope after locking the door. She knew that Kol had wanted to be there when she would do her magic, but she was afraid that something would go wrong, and she'd end up hurting him.

It was just her and Hope as Bella could use all the magic she could get her hands on.

"Yeah," Hope replied slightly hesitant. "Are you sure this is going to work?"

"Nope."

"Okay. Great." She stretched herself and sighed. "So whatever happens, don't stop?"

"Scared?" Bella laughed as she covered her bones with the soil. "You're a 300-year-old tribrid, this won't be the worst thing you've experienced."

"No, but it is the most delicate spell I've ever done. One wrong word or too fast and I will screw things up," Hope smiled. "Forgive me when I have some performance anxiety."

"Hope, I trust you," Bella said as she looked at the girl. "I trust you. Now, let's kick ass."

Right before Bella wanted to start on the spell, Hope's phone-like device went off. Bella was surprised that she already had one after being a wolf for so long and basically only just returned. "Sorry," Hope muttered as she picked up the phone. "Who is this?" Frowning at the phone, she put it on speaker.

" _I like the plan. It will work."_

Bella blinked when she heard the voice and had to dig deep for any recognition. "Peter?"

" _And congratulations on making New Orleans open to us vamps again. We'll talk soon. I'd wish you good luck, but you don't really need it."_ And with that, the phone went dead.

"Friend of yours?" Hope said as she turned off the phone and put it back in her pocket.

"From a very long time ago," Bella replied with a slight growl. He had disturbed the peace with his phone call, and she knew that he knew it. "Okay, let's do this. No more interruptions."

The first step was to bring her body back, rebuild it with magic, make it flesh and blood again. She had dipped into the Dark Magic pool often enough, but necromancy required a lot of power. Then there was this whole balance of nature thing that reared its ugly head when performing something like this, but Bella figured that since her current body only had about 13 hours to go, it would balance out evenly.

It was weird to see that slowly, but surely, her old, wrinkled body appeared around the bones that were sticking out from the soil. The bones and earth shifted, the hum of powerful magic was all around her and Hope, their entire being breathing it in as if it was a lovely summer's day.

"I can hear the heart beating," Hope muttered quietly. "Are you sure it's just a shell?"

"Uhuh," Bella said as she raised her old, naked, body from the soil and transferred it to the table with her magic. "Are you sure it's fully functional?"

"Oh yeah, definitely."

"Awesome," Bella said with a grin before covering her body with a blanket. "That was the easy part."

"Can we take a break? I'm a little woozy."

"Yeah, I suppose," Bella said as she looked at Hope, who looked a little pale. "Eat something, I can do the rejuvenation spell by myself."

Hope blinked at her. "Bella, we still have like 12 hours. It's okay to take a break."

"Yeah well, if this doesn't work, we still need a couple hours for plan B so take a break. If you're worried, send in Kol." Bella said impatiently.

Hope smirked as she heard Bella's heart beat even faster before leaving. Not soon after, Kol walked in. "Hope said you're a little anxious," he said before wrapping her into his arms. "Oh hey, you did it!" He said when his eyes fell upon Bella's body. "Is it fully functional?"

"You tell me," she muttered as she took a deep breath and tried to relax. "Hope heard the heartbeat."

"It's a bit on the weak side, but yeah." He kissed the top of her head and smiled. "Did you ever think you were going to do this one day before you came to New Orleans for the first time?"

She huffed. "Of course not, I wasn't even aware of my magic. In all honesty, this feels wrong. This goes against nature. I didn't feel this conflicted when I did a similar spell on Jasper and Peter but -"

"All parties involved were already dead."

"Yeah, and technically, I died too. But I'm alive and... Ugh."

Kol ruffled Bella's hair. "Get out of your head, Cuddles. If the ancestors want to take away your magic for doing this, then so be it. You'll lose them anyway once you tell me I can feed you my blood and kill you. Nature is balanced. It'll all balance out."

"You just can't wait to kill me," she said with a slight chuckle before looking at herself. "Question; what if I am unable to reverse time on myself? Would you still want me if I was in that body?"

"Ew, no," Kol said, scrunching his nose in disgust. "I'd still love you, but no. I mean… look at my face, all perfect and handsome. Then look at… that. When the other body grew older I didn't mind much, but come on, either you reverse it or find yourself a new host body."

She narrowed her eyes on him before turning around, leaning against him and muttering a spell. She then reached into her pocket to reveal a tiny herb bag and set it on fire before throwing it at her body. She and Kol watched in fascination as the fire consumed her old body, turning it to ash. Along with the blanket.

She allowed it to smoulder for a little under 80 seconds and then cast another spell to rebuild, crossing her fingers behind her back as she hoped it would work. The timing was going to be right. Bella wanted to look Kol's age, maybe a little younger, but not by much as she didn't want to be stuck in high school for the rest of her life. She wanted to be able to travel, to do fun things and not being confined.

She hated to be confined.

"Wow, would you look at that," Kol said breathlessly, letting go of Bella and walked over to her old body. "Oh… yes," his voice sounded slightly constrained. "Yes. Absolutely."

She tilted her head with an amused smile on her lips. "Would you like some alone time?"

"Can I?" Kol looked up with an impish look on his face.

"Pervert."

"Ah, but you love me for it," he grinned as he grabbed another blanket and covered her up so that only her face was visible in case someone else would walk in and see her glorious body. It was all his, and he couldn't wait for her to be back in it. While the blonde hair was adorable, he preferred the looks of her original body. "Now what?"

Bella shrugged as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Wait for Hope to have somewhat recharged so she can put me back in myself."

 **[The Abattoir, French Quarter, New Orleans. January 28th, 2311. 12:01 pm]**

"Come on, Cuddles," Kol muttered as he once again rubbed her chest with his knuckles. Everything sounded as it should, her heartbeat had begun to steadily beat once she was inside of herself and he was on the verge of feeding her his blood.

Her body simply didn't want to warm up just yet. Maybe it was because of the spell Hope had used, a spell taught by Bella herself. It was an unusual one, why not go for the well-travelled path? If he hadn't been mistaken, part of the spell had been to anchor herself inside her body, not that anyone could pull her out without her consent or whatever.

"Come back to me or I will feed you my blood and kill you, so you have no choice but to come back," he growled. His impatience was getting the better of him. "Because I hate this. So you'd better come back or else."

"Shut up," Bella muttered as she rolled into him. "I feel like I've been hit by a truck."

"Well, that's because you allowed a tribrid to perform the spell. Hope's terribly out of shape due to having spent the most time as a wolf," he said after letting out a breath of relief. "She has the finesse of an elephant."

"Play nice," she put her arm around him, her eyes still closed. "I'm back now, relax. No more time restraint. We can take our time now, rebuilding. And I'm not going to see the Regent with a headache."

"Don't worry. We have all the time in the world now."

"Exactly."

"Go nap."

Bella huffed as she opened her eyes to look up to him. "First you want me to wake up, and now you want me to nap?"

 **[The Abattoir, French Quarter, New Orleans. January 28th, 2311. 12:14 pm]**

"She's awake, I heard them speak," Sam said as she threw her bag in the corner. While waiting for Bella's return, she had gone out again and did some target practice on the werewolves that were still roaming about and dared to show their faces in the French Quarter.

"Good. No more unrest in the family and we can move forward on a united front," Klaus responded as he looked at his mate. "Did you have fun, my love?"

Sam merely smirked before pulling Klaus with her to the bathroom. Once there, she turned on the water and undressed herself in front of him while she kept her eyes firmly fixed on him. "Want to have some more fun?" She asked in a velvety voice as she started to undress him as well. "Get rid of some tension?"

Klaus greedily kissed her, pushing her against the nearest wall. She had the right idea. Now that Bella was going to be with them for a much longer time, it was time to enjoy himself. At least a little. In the three days that they'd been back in New Orleans, they had eliminated a lot of werewolves or caused them to flee out of the Quarter. Sure, they still had a lot to do to make sure that most of them left for better places while Bella and Kol would focus on the witches and their problems, but there was no pressure.

Reorganising the supernatural population took time. He had done this many times before, but this time it was going to be different. He was going to have Sam by his side. And Bella and Kol. Rebekah and Elijah were probably going to bugger off again, and he wasn't sure if his daughter would stick around long enough to help them. She liked being a wolf too much, and she wanted to be with her mother.

Maybe, as a gesture of good faith, he could ask Bella to reverse the spell that Dahlia had cast for him, to reverse the curse on the Crescent wolves, or at least those who were still affected by it. Perhaps Elijah would take Hayley with him if he left again. Another worry less for Klaus.

"Hey," Sam poked him in the chest. "Thoughts with me."

"I'm all yours," Klaus smiled at her, discovering he was completely naked himself and allowed Sam to pull him into the cubicle.

"Good, because I'm going to take full advantage of your body, Mr. Mikaelson," she said with a wolfish grin. "And you're going enjoy it and love it and then return the favor."

"If you wish," he said, putting his arms around her before kissing her again, but blinked when she pushed him away. "What?"

"No, you're not allowed to touch me. Let's see how long you can last."


	18. Kidnapping

**[The Abattoir, French Quarter, New Orleans. January 30th, 2311. 4:21 pm]**

Bella felt great. She had been so thankful that the day after the spells, she felt as fit as a fiddle. Her mind was clear, relaxed, no immediate threats and she liked it that way. She felt the need to apologize to everyone for having behaved the way that she had ever since her return. Things should go back to normal; as good as normal it was.

She couldn't help but feel slightly nervous, though, when they were bringing the body of Daisy to her mother - the regent. She had wanted to bring her to the witches hiding out in Marcel's old loft, but Kol thought it would be a great conversation starter. "Hey look, your daughter sacrificed herself to raise a powerful witch from the dead to have a chat with you!"

Bella, on the other hand, thought it'd be a recipe for murder. However, Kol was confident enough that they wouldn't get into trouble. Despite his confidence, she had asked Sam to be close by with her gun, for back up.

Yes, Bella knew that she was a powerful witch and yes, Kol was an Original vampire. But, there were werewolves present and Bennett witches, who, apart from Bonnie, Bella hadn't encountered before. Bonnie had been a powerful witch on her own. Stupid, but there was a lot of power inside of her. If these were her descendants, or at least part of the same bloodline, Bella wanted to be sure that they were going to walk out of there alive.

It was a miracle that they were allowed to enter the garden, but at the door, they were stopped. "No vampires allowed," one of the wolves said, causing Kol to snarl.

"I'm holding the regent's dead child, you're going to let me pass," he said angrily. If he hadn't, he would have smacked those werewolves and kicked them out. No one was going to stop him from entering. Unless this house was owned by a living person. Then they'd be in the same shit again as a couple of days ago, and Bella wasn't going in either.

On the other hand, they wouldn't need wolves at the door if the house was legitimately owned. Throwing Daisy's body over his shoulder, he looked at his wife. "I'm trying to do the respectful thing here, look what happens."

"Go for it," Bella said with a nod. "I've got your back." She put her hands in her pockets and took a step back as Kol bashed the closest werewolf against the wall with his free shoulder and she could have sworn she heard something snap inside the werewolf's body. She watched as Kol grabbed the other one by the throat and ducked when he threw him over her as if he weighed nothing.

Sure, she could have easily done something about the entrance problem, but she knew that Kol liked the action too, after having spent days with her, taking care of her, he deserved some fun. She was relieved when he could simply step over the threshold without needing an invitation. It clearly showed that they hadn't been planning on the barrier being lowered and that there were vampires back in New Orleans.

She did that. She lowered the barrier and allowed her family back in. Oh yeah, she was kickass.

Bella beamed proudly up to Kol as she stepped in stride next to him into the grand hallway. It was one of those old plantation houses they were in; the hallway was open and round so that people could see from upstairs where you got to via a big staircase. In all honesty, it was breathtaking. Even after so many years, the house was still in perfect shape and absolutely gorgeous.

Soon, a lot of heads popped up over the balustrade encircling the area and Bella looked up to look at all of them. "We're here to seek audience with the regent of the New Orleans covens, Isabella Esther Mikaelson," she spoke up. "We're here to return her daughter to her and inform her of the situation in the Quarter. We mean you no harm."

"How dare you bring a vampire to our home!" One of the witches spoke up, and Bella's head snapped to her.

"As if I'm going to carry Daisy's body myself, have you seen me?" Bella huffed. "Besides, he's my husband so you better produce Esther or I'll allow him to rip your throat out."

"Hey," Kol whined softly. "I'm not your attack dog."

"They don't know that, honey," Bella gently pat him on his arm before looking back up to the witch. "As I said, we don't intent on hurting anyone, but we will if we have to."

"I am here," another voice spoke, and they could see some movement as the woman moved through the witches towards the stairs. "You've come to return my daughter to me? I didn't know she was lost."

Only when the woman walked down the stairs, Bella replied. "A lot is lost on you these days, I hear."

"Don't speak to me like that," Esther shot at her and waved her hand to fling Bella across the room but nothing happened. Bella had been expecting this and had put a reflective shield around her and Kol. It was fun to see the woman fall flat on her ass on the stairs, though. "What was that?!" she screeched as she got back to her feet.

"You're the regent, calm your tits," Bella said calmly as she crossed her arms over each other.

Kol took a few steps forward and gently placed Daisy on the floor before Esther and then joined Bella again, holding up his hands. Oh, he wanted to sink his teeth into every single person in this house, he didn't like the vibe, the energy in the place, but Bella had made him promise that he would keep his teeth to himself. But he wasn't happy about it.

The regent finally made her steps off the stairs and looked at the lifeless body of her daughter before looking back up to Bella and Kol, emotion barely showing on her face. Her own daughter and she weren't even flinching. "What happened?" She demanded, making herself taller as she eyed her 'guests'. "Who are you?"

"Ah!" Bella smiled up to Kol. "The two questions that can be answered in one go! Would you like to have the honors, dearest?"

"Gladly," he smirked before turning his attention to the witch. "Your subjects were worried about you due to your allegiances to the Bennett witches," he said, causing most of the witches around them to scowl. "As I can tell, many have gathered around you. From what I've heard, you've reinstated the Harvest. Why is that? As I remember, that was made unnecessary 300 years ago."

"We're losing power. Whoever thought it was a great idea to petition the ancestors to end the Harvest wasn't the brightest bulb."

"You don't practise magic the way it's supposed to be practised; that's why you seem to be losing power," Kol snapped. "Your witches knew that something needed to change. With you, but also New Orleans as a whole. Since you wouldn't listen to their pleas, they resurrected the most powerful witch they didn't even know about until a Claire pointed her out to your children."

"You're saying that a Claire is responsible for Daisy's death?"

"No, I've heard that she sacrificed herself so that this witch could inhabit your daughter's body while she'd save every single one of you," Kol pointed at Daisy. "Your daughter volunteered, even took the poison that would cause the witch to die in a matter of days, a week. They were that desperate, yes."

"And who was this witch they brought back? Did she do something special?"

"How about dropping the shield that kept the vampires out while her body was being poisoned?"

"Don't be ridiculous, nobody is that powerful apart from the Bennett witches and we don't have those buried in the cemetery."

Bella felt a vibration in her pocket and retrieved the device with a smile. Turning it around, she read the message sent by Sam.

'Our friend wants to inform you that she didn't find any person named Bennett with a chip in their head, will that work?'

"And you still haven't told me who you are!" Esther was losing her cool again, and Bella felt sorry for her.

"Shouldn't there be two regents?" Kol inquired playfully as both he and Bella took a few steps forward. Oh, he had missed this, he and her against the world. They hadn't told Klaus yet, but if they'd get their chance today, Bella would take the place of the current regent, just as long as she was needed. "I know that people tend to forget history, which is a pity, really."

"My name is Bella Mikaelson, and this is my husband, Kol. Your children are worried about you and who you align yourself with. We're here to help."

"I don't need your help!" Esther screeched after a moment of silence as if she was thinking about it. "Leave my home or I will throw you out!"

Bella quickly took a step forward and pulled Esther within the protective bubble and the woman collapsed immediately. Kol managed to catch her, and Bella looked at him. "Well, that explains it."

"What did you do?" One of the other witches stepped forward, panicked that Esther had fallen to the floor. "You fix her right now!"

"I believe I just did," Bella deadpanned as she focussed on the woman. "Are you the leader of the Bennett witches?" When the woman slightly nodded, she continued. "What's your intention? Why have you been insinuating yourselves in New Orleans?"

"Why do you care?" The woman spat as she defiantly crossed her arms over her chest. "We've been coming here for a hundred or so years, looking for a great source of power to benefit us all."

She blinked at that. That was new. "I don't understand. You can't practice ancestral magic; you have no ancestors here. What source of power?" When she saw the confused face of the witch, she sighed. "I've been dead for 300 years. Enlighten me."

"What?"

Bella smirked and cocked her head. "Enlighten me."

"Why? You come into our home, ruin our friend and have the balls to demand information?"

"Pretty much," Bella smiled up to Kol. "Are you alright, my love?"

"I feel a little bit peckish if I have to be honest," he said as his true face came out to play. He focused his attention to the witch who had been speaking and licked his lips. "Tell her what she wants to know."

"You'll die, vampire," she threatened.

"Been there, done that… I'm sticking around this time." Without warning, he shot forward and sunk his teeth in the witch, draining her as he locked eyes with Bella, who, in turn, was licking her own lips, he could smell her arousal and winked at her. They were going to have so much fun.

"So," he said as he dropped the witch and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Who's going to tell us what's going on?" He ran up the stairs and killed two witches by snapping their necks. "I have no problem with killing the lot of you until one speaks up."

"Stop him!" One of the witches screeched while others were casting spells on Kol that Bella tried to prevent from hitting him from her spot in the hallway. Kol kept moving around as well, a bit smile on his face as one by one, he killed witches until they stopped attacking him.

"I don't know what's going on, or who you are but stop!" One of the teenage witches called out, her hands raised in defense. "I'll tell you what you want to know."

"Good, because you're exhausting my wife," Kol said as he hopped down to rejoin Bella. He put an arm around her and smiled widely. "That was fun."

"How does that work? Y-you're a vampire, and she's not?" The girl carefully stepped around the dead bodies and Bella carefully observed her movements. She didn't look scared in the slightest, impressed, maybe.

"You first," Bella said, magically nudging the witch ever so slightly to have her stop moving. "What great source of power?"

"If my suspicions are correct, I'm looking at it," the girl eventually retorted with a nod towards Bella. "There is no trace of you in our mental history, but the diaries of our ancestor Bonnie Bennett spoke of you," she smiled kindly. "There was even a picture of you and your husband with her, though; he didn't look like that. Wasn't he a witch too?"

Bella groaned as she turned to Kol. "Sam said the same thing. The Mikaelsons knew about you and your family but not about me."

"Yeah, Nik made sure you stayed out of it, to protect you."

She huffed. "Look where that has gotten us."

"Barb's idea was to resurrect your soul and mold it to her will, maybe plonk you into Esther's body. The only problem was that we didn't know how and when," the girl said, shame was heard in her voice. "She wanted to use your power to make New Orleans better, clean out the werewolves. Get the witches of New Orleans behind her, more power."

Bella was furious. People were still so obsessed with more power and didn't care on how they were getting it. "Yeah well, that's not going to happen. Nobody touches me again apart from my love."

Kol picked Esther's unconscious body from the floor. "We will rebuild New Orleans and restore it to its former glory, but New Orleans doesn't have a home for witches of your kind. Maybe, in time, you could form an allegiance of some sort with the witches here, but you are not bound by the magic of the Ancestors here. You should travel the world, see things, learn things from other witches. Don't get stuck here."

"And get rid of that stupid chip in your head. Use books," Bella said as she smiled at the teenager. "Educate your coven and get out. If you're not gone by the end of the week, you're free to be hunted."

"But…"

"No but. You're lucky we're giving you that much."

 **[The Abattoir, French Quarter, New Orleans. January 31st, 2311. 7:11 am]**

"You can't keep me here!" Esther's voice screeched through the entire building. They had brought her to the compound the day before after she'd collapsed and made her comfortable in one of the guest rooms that didn't look all too bad and Bella had sealed her in. She wasn't going anywhere; she needed to answer some questions first. "I am the regent of the covens of New Orleans!"

Bella groaned as she turned in the bed and rolled into Kol's arms. "I should have put a silencing spell around that room too…"

"Uhuh," he yawned and kissed the top of her head. "You'd better get your cute little ass out of bed and attend to our guest before Nik flips his lid."

She let out another groan.

"You decided to take her here, Cuddles."

"I know. And I swear, once this is all sorted out, you're going to kill me so we can spend eternity together and out of this kind of shit."

"That's a promise, just say when."

She smiled at him and softly kissed him before leaving the bed in search for her clothes, but was surprised by Sam, who rushed into their chambers. "Ever heard of knocking?"

"Oh my, look at you," Sam said as she licked her lips after stopping an inch away from Bella. "So deliciously naked."

"No biting of the human," Kol warned from the bed, his tone far from being playful.

"Who said anything about biting?" Sam put Bella's face between her hands and kissed her, full on, pushing her against the nearest wall and continued to kiss her. She used a little bit of force to keep Bella in place, but Bella was hardly resisting.

"Nik!" Kol eventually called out. "Your mate is snogging my naked wife! Again!"

Sam sighed as she stopped kissing Bella when Klaus got into the room. "I must say; this is a lot better than the previous version of you. The original is much better."

"I missed it?" Klaus playfully pouted before composing himself. "Bella, your guest is up and screaming, why are you still naked and snogging my mate?"

Bella scowled as she flung Klaus out the door and ducked away from Sameen's hands to get her clothes. "You could do something useful and get her breakfast."

"She's your guest."

"If I don't fix her, if we don't fix her, you'll have a lot of trouble on your hands, so be nice." She pulled her shirt over her head before finding her pants and got in. She was going to get dressed properly later but yes, to show that they really weren't the bad guys, she'd better hurry and give their guest something to eat. Pulling her hair back into a ponytail, Bella smirked at Sam. "We need to do that more often."

"No!" Kol and Klaus said panicked. "Cuddles, I know we've experimented in the past, and we'll probably continue doing that, but not with my brother's mate!" Kol added. "Hot as it may be… It's incest-by-proxy. No."

Sam huffed as she hopped on the bed with a grin on her face before reaching over the blanket to cup Kol's privates. "I do what I want, when I want, with whomever I want." She gave a gentle squeeze and smirked. "It's just kissing, don't get your nutmegs in a twist."

"You're twisting them right now," Kol said with a strained voice. "I give."

Bella laughed and shook her head as she walked out of the room towards the kitchen. Fetching some breakfast, she made her way over to Esther and got into her room. "Thanks for waking us all," Bella said as she placed the tray on the table. "You have nothing to fear from us."

"What the hell happened?"

Bella eyed the older woman and sighed as she sat down in a chair. "I don't know; you tell me. What's the last thing you remember before waking up here?"

"I don't know," she replied, warily eyeing Bella. "Who are you?"

Sighing, Bella took a piece of toast and took a bite out of it, gesturing to the breakfast for Esther to take. "My name is Bella Mikaelson, and you're in my family's home. I'm a witch, like you and yes, we are related but very distantly."

"How so?"

"A little over 300 years ago, I gave birth to my daughter Nina." She gestured to the spread again. "Please, have something to eat and drink."

Esther hesitated for a moment before sitting down and reaching for the coffee. "That's impossible, all we know is that our line started with Nina when she was born in 2023."

"Everyone has a mother," Bella smiled at her. "Like your daughters. Who would they be without you?"

"Yes, I know that, but we figured she was the product of the 'vault', we thought Renée Higginbotham was her mother…"

Bella smiled at that. So that's how Klaus hid her in modern history. It made sense, and it sort of fit, a little… although her mom would be ancient by the time Nina came around. Then again, if a lie were strong enough, it could withstand time. "Mandy Claire didn't think so."

"Oh, the Claires…" Esther said as she took a small sip of her coffee. "They pride themselves in that they're all natural, no chip. And that they're still nose deep in books."

"While the Mikaelsons rely on information loaded onto a chip without any renewal or updates on information?"

"Oh, every few years or so we can get an update, but not of the witch variety."

Bella sucked in a breath. "Did the overall IQ of all of you drop over the centuries? Technology is awesome, but that doesn't mean you should rely on it, certainly not as a witch! You have to continue to learn, to grow. Seriously, no wonder that the Bennett witches got the jump on you with that attitude."

"Excuse me! You have no idea!" Esther breezed, nearly smacking her cup of coffee on the table.

"Your great grandfather James shouldn't have kicked out the vampires, that's one mistake," Bella said, holding up a finger. "Bennett witches were on the rise 50 years ago. Hell, they've been coming for even longer than that. With the vampires kicked out, they could form an allegiance with the werewolves and take what was the legacy of the New Orleans covens." Bella spoke calmly as she remained eye contact with Esther. "Another mistake was that chip, but we've already covered that, and it's not your fault that you've gotten used to being lazy."

When Esther wanted to speak up again, Bella interrupted her. "Most importantly, it's stated in the rules that since my husband and I were regents, no one was supposed to rule alone. What's your excuse? What was your father's excuse? I mean, from what I gathered in the books, it went well for a couple generations."

"There's no use of two regents."

"Probably not, but that wasn't the point. The point was to hold each other accountable and strong. To make sure that no one could be influenced by outside forces without the other knowing it. Safety."

Bella was shocked to find the woman roll her eyes at her.

"Your children, your family, were so desperate to come to your rescue as you were under the influence by the other witches. Now that you're free of them, I would have thought you'd come to your senses," Bella got to her feet. "I see that you're not ready. Enjoy your breakfast, I'll check in on you later." She turned around at the door and smiled. "Know that you're safe here. No one is going to hurt you. However, you're not going to leave this room and know that we won't be able to hear you as I just put a silencing spell around this room as well. Take this time to think."

She yawned as she crawled back in bed with Kol. "She needs some time."

"I think she's a lost cause."

"Shut up."

"We've been over this, Cuddles. Over 300 years ago. You're too nice; I thought we fixed that," he said as he pulled her into his arms. "Being under the influence of some spell or not, she's a terrible regent."

"Yeah well… maybe she'll get better."

"And if not?"

"Don't worry, I'll take the position back if I need to, I just want to tread lightly, at least for a little bit. We have time."

He let out a cry of frustration. "Why must you be so ridiculously human?"

Smirking, she nudged him and crawled on top of him, straddling his waist with her knees. "Because I can," she said playfully and kissed him tenderly. "And because sometimes you need that reminder as well, especially now that you're no longer human."

"Neither will you in a bit," he pulled her shirt over her head. "But I guess your big heart will stick around when you change. That's going to suck."

Bella playfully hit him on the head before kissing him again, pressing her body against his.

After a while, Kol broke off the kiss and rolled the both of them over. "Lose the rest of your clothes, woman," he said with a low growl as he looked at her. "Because I'm lazy to do it myself and too impatient too."

* * *

 **A/N:** One more chapter left to post!


	19. Rebirth

**[The Abattoir, French Quarter, New Orleans. February 3rd, 2311. 4:23 pm]**

It was stunning to see what they had accomplished in a little under a week. While Bella had been dealing with the Regent and the witches, people had been walking in and out the compound to restore it to its former glory and for the first time in a very long time, they had had breakfast in the dining room as a family. Much to her, and Sam's, dismay, Elijah and Rebekah had been present too.

Elijah was still at a loss for words and Hope refused to lift the spell, as did Bella. If he truly wanted to communicate something meaningful, he'd have to learn the ancient form of sign language.

Even though Klaus and Kol knew what her and Sam's opinions were about their siblings, they didn't quite understand why. Their anger towards them had dissipated, there was no grudge for having left Klaus alone for 300 years and in the sole care of Sameen, and before that Bella, and everything was back as it used to be.

On one of the trips where Sam accompanied Bella to the Mikaelson witches across the river, Bella mentioned that she was in possession of the four remaining daggers that could neutralize an Original vampire and Sam agreed that Elijah and Rebekah needed a timeout. Both girls weren't afraid of the ramifications, Klaus, and Kol, but mainly Klaus -were wrapped around their fingers like a piece of string.

Was it mean? Unfair and backstabbery? Oh, there was no question, and the men would throw a fit, but it's what Elijah and Rebekah deserved. Even if Klaus didn't think they did. Even if it was the last act as a human Bella would do.

It was hard not to get all giddy about it; it was a little secret between her and Sam until they'd do it and it was awesome. A secret in-joke and Klaus didn't like it.

Bella was now sitting in the guest room again, looking at Esther. She still wasn't cooperating and according to the twins, their mother had always been a little bit funny and slightly not right in the head. "The way I see it, there are a few options here," she said calmly. "One; you and I are going to the Cemetery and in front of the Ancestors you'll voluntarily relinquish your Regency to me."

Esther huffed.

"Two; I'm going to the Cemetery by myself, commune with the Ancestors and tell them about the current state of their Regent and their witches and have them make me Regent."

"You wouldn't!"

"Three; both option one and two can end in two ways for you. Either you live, or I'll present you to my family as a snack."

"You wouldn't kill your own blood!" Esther gasped as she looked at Bella in shock. "I come from you!"

"I know that, and normally, I wouldn't. But you see, I won't be the one killing you. I'll merely facilitate that event happening."

"And what if I refuse?"

"Darling, I don't think you can refuse," Bella smiled at her. "Either way, I'm becoming Regent again. I don't want to, but as far as I can tell, no one is capable of taking over. Not from your coven, nor from the others. But I'm not going to hold on to it for a long time. When I find the right witches to succeed us, I will train them and have them take my place. I will make us a force again. Not a small gust of wind."

"But I can do that!"

"No, no, you can't. You haven't shown me anything in the last few days that makes me think that you're capable of doing anything, even without outside influence."

"Because you locked me up in here!"

"And yet, you're still throwing a tantrum like a toddler," Bella stated as she rose to her feet. "Think about your options. I want an answer when I'm bringing you dinner."

 **[The Abattoir, French Quarter, New Orleans. February 3rd, 2311. 6:23 pm]**

"The Ancestors won't take it nicely that you got their Regent killed," Kol deadpanned as he wiped the blood off his mouth with his sleeve. "She tasted horrible, thank you very much."

"I don't care; I'm done."

"Done?"

"Yes. I won't take prisoners or hostages. They'll die if they get in my way." She snapped. "I know we've done something like this before, you and I, but I never thought we'd have to do it again. It's mostly our blood that have gone and made a mess out of things, and that frustrates me because when it comes down to it, it's us who fucked up!"

"Calm down, Cuddles," he said as he pulled her towards him. "It's alright."

"No! It's not alright!" She said as she punched him in the chest and beat him a few times before stopping and nursing her hand. "Ouchie."

He recognized so much of his own anger in her. Granted, he'd expect it to have seen it sooner, but she was too busy, too preoccupied with witch business and almost dying that she never really got the chance to adjust. He pulled her closer and gently ran his hand through her hair as he looked at her. "We have raised our children well. We've made sure that our kids raised their children well and kept an eye out later on, but we did our best. Three hundred years is a lot, Bella," he said calmly. "A lot has changed. For instance; New Orleans has been raised above the water so it could be preserved. Taxis no longer require a driver. Some trains go so fast that your ears pop, and there's no longer need for an airplane. Humans boost their intelligence with chips in their head - which is stupid, yet they use the same technology to restore memories in Amnesia patients. Alzheimers, cancer, AIDS - they no longer exist. People have changed. Their mentality has changed because everything comes so natural to them."

"But…"

"It's not easy, you expect things to be as they were, but they aren't," he interrupted her. "And that sucks, but you'll adapt. But I truly understand why you're done with everything and I think that's a great state of mind to move forward with."

"But I feel sorry for wanting to hurt them."

"They screwed up; they need to pay the price."

"I know, but…" Bella sighed as she fisted his shirt and looked up to him. "They deserve it anyway, for what they've done to me."

"Exactly," he softly kissed her. "There's nothing wrong with being vengeful, Bella, as long as you're having fun with it."

"We're going to do this again?"

"Of course. It's time everyone's reminded who the Mikaelsons are. What better way to start instilling fear in people again by slaughtering people?"

"I do love a good murder," Klaus' voice could be heard from behind them. "Who are we going to kill?"

"We aren't going to kill anyone. You promised, Nik. The witches are mostly our concern, not yours," Kol countered as he put his arms around Bella and smirked at him. "Party for two."

Klaus huffed. "Bella, love, if there will be more killings, will you invite me?"

"Of course," Bella grinned and then looked up to Kol. "You know I can't refuse your brother when it comes to things like that."

"Party for two," Kol insisted and kissed Bella sloppily before grabbing the nearest item and throwing the door closed. Corpse present or not, he was going to have her now. She wouldn't object, would she? Pressing her against the nearest wall, he started to move his hand underneath her shirt, and before he knew it, he was flung across the room. "Cuddles!" He whined.

"A dead body is pretty much a buzz kill," she said as she straightened her shirt. "I'm going to talk to the Ancestors and get my ass kicked before they see reason and vote me to be the interim Regent before everyone else can vote."

"You sound so confident."

"Good, because I'm not."

 **[City of the Dead, LaFayette Cemetery 1, New Orleans, LA. Ancestral Plane. February 3rd, 2311. 11:32 pm]**

She had worked hard to gain access to the Ancestors. For a few good hours, she'd been chanting her ass off. Eventually growing so frustrated and impatient that she had started to throw in some threats while she chanted. They didn't like that very much.

Much to Bella's surprise, only a small contingent of the Ancestors were present for her, and they were mostly all Mikaelsons. Her four children, she recognized. Nina's children too, but after that it became a little fuzzy. Ed Higginbotham was present too, even though he wasn't even consecrated in New Orleans, and that threw her off for a moment, before realizing that she was the reason he was accepted anyway.

"Cool, a covenant with my family," she remarked dryly. The way they were all staring at her made her feel like she was back in school. "All that's missing is tea and biscuits."

"You do realize that we're standing between you and the other Ancestors, don't you, mother?" Sophia smiled at her. "What you did… resurrecting yourself without their permission and keeping your own magic…"

"That was your sister's idea, don't blame me for that."

"I know, that was brilliant." Nina grinned. "Why are you here, mother?"

"I killed the current Regent."

"Yeah, we know."

"She was useless."

"We know. What are you going to do to fix it?" Her other daughter, Eliana, spoke up, finally.

"You want me to fix it?"

"Isn't that what you want?" Nina asked her; she was obviously the one in charge. Bella liked that.

"Yeah, but…"

"You have our blessing, mom," Oliver pushed past his big sister and smiled at her. "The other Ancestors don't want to admit it, but things have been problematic for years. It's time to clean house, and you're currently the best person for the job."

"Oh, no pressure then."

"You love trouble, mother," Sophia grinned. "Give our love to Father, but you have to go now. Some witches are looking for trouble."

 **[City of the Dead, LaFayette Cemetery 1, New Orleans, LA. February 4th, 2311. 12:05 am]**

Bella sat up with a jolt and got her bearings. She was back in her and Kol's Playhouse, and she could hear the noise coming from outside. She got to her feet and headed out. She cast a minor spell to grant her some light and realized that there were people vandalizing gravestones, and they were near the Mikaelson tomb, and Bella wasn't going to let anything happen to her loved ones.

"Excuse me," she called out. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Don't mind us! We're being kicked out, but thought it would be fun to-" a witch came running to her before skidding to a halt. "Holy shit."

"I've been called that before," Bella smirked as she launched the witch across the cemetery with a flick of her wrist. "I told you to pack up and leave, not to lash out and destroy the cemetery!" She called after her, before turning around finding more witches. She cast a shield around herself to deflect anything coming her way and started to chase the witches off the grounds.

This was fun. She wasn't holding back, and she unleashed the monster within her. It felt great to go all out and she didn't feel guilty about it because she had given the Bennett witches an ultimatum and they were causing trouble. She sent a few flying, threw around a few hexes and chased them out of the cemetery, only for some to collapse just outside.

She blinked when she saw Sam standing there at the entrance, arms crossed over her chest. "You've been busy," she deadpanned.

"Yep."

"My friend is already working hard to erase your… activity… from the feeds."

"Huh?"

Sam pointed up in the sky. "Drones. They capture everything; you need to be more careful." She then looked at the heap of witches. "Is one of them still alive? I'm hungry."

Bella looked around and saw someone run away from the cemetery. With her magic, she pulled the witch towards her and shoved her into Sam's waiting arms. "Bon Appetite."

A big wolfish grin appeared on Sam's face. "Oh, don't mind if I do!"

 **[The Abattoir, French Quarter, New Orleans. February 20th, 2312. 5:22 pm]**

It had been a long year. A long, difficult year, but, with the entire family working day and night to restore the balance in New Orleans, people had stopped being afraid and tourists were coming back. Mardi Gras season was in full swing, and the streets were once again filled with laughter and music. Actual music played on instruments.

The National Historical Society was more than pleased with the Mikaelson's efforts to restore the French Quarter, making things safe again for everyone to venture out. Of course, the lie was that gang related activities had made it unsafe for tourists to come. Then again, it was so close to the truth that it could hardly be recognized as a lie. But everyone was happy. The French Quarter was still a Historic Landmark and years of neglect had turned it into something ugly and dangerous.

Sam and Klaus focused on getting the wolves back in line. Several non-native werewolf packs in New Orleans needed to be shown who was boss and Klaus was more than happy to get them in line. He didn't even bother with the Crescent wolves as they were behaving themselves. Hope pleaded with Bella to lift the curse, just before she relinquished her position to her well-trained successors, she did.

It had taken six months and some reluctant Mikaelsons, but they all had gone their procedure done. No more Mikaelson witches. Ever. The Original Family was enough for the world to handle. While Bella felt sad about the whole situation, to limit them from reproducing any further, she knew that it was either that, or wished that she'd never had any children, and she didn't want to wish that - having children with Kol and seeing them grow up had been one of the best experiences of her life.

While Elijah had been crucial in bringing peace back to the city and the restoration of the French Quarter, both Bella and Sam still held a grudge against him and Rebekah, and it was time to put their plan into play.

Both Kol and Bella were so pleased with everyone who turned up for the celebration of their 292nd year of marriage - despite the both of them having been dead for most of that time, but who cared? A party was a party!

Damon and Stefan had made the trip to New Orleans, as had Peter Whitlock - which surprised Bella the most. Caroline was present as well. Hope was there too, as she was needed in case something would go wrong.

A side project for Sam had been to find a Gilbert descendant of Elena for the cure in their veins. While it supposedly was impossible for a vampire to turn human and then turn into a vampire again, Bella had figured a way around it by adding a little spell to the blood before Sam drank it. If she'd drink it, she'd be human again for a period without any side effects, but had to be turned again before the spell ended.

"You are going to do it today, aren't you?" Sam asked as she took a bite off her steak that she had speared with a fork. "Because I'm human now, like you, and I don't want to die."

"Relax," Bella assured her with a smile. "Enjoy this."

"I'm not enjoying this. I forgot how tedious it was to be human. This sucks."

While the spell had been complicated and the potion taken a long time to finish brewing, she had made it easy on Hope by combining everything in two vials. She and Sam needed to drink that, drink from Klaus and Kol and then die. Upon coming back, they'd be as indestructible as their mate, their husband. As long as they were alive, Bella and Sam were alive. The only thing for Hope to do was to keep an eye on them and if there were signs of things going wrong, perform one correction spell that Bella had devised.

Bella had tried to replicate Esther's original spell that turned the family into Original Vampires, but she couldn't bottle it and that sucked. It also required special ingredients, not on hand, and she figured by binding herself to Kol and Sam to Klaus, the job would be done as well. It just sucked, for Sam, that Sam needed to be human again for a short time.

But boy, was Bella glad that she wasn't going to be a witch for much longer. She was done. Finished. In fact, her power made her depressed and bored, and she didn't like it.

"Oh, fine," Bella sighed as she poked Kol and smiled up at him as she held up her empty glass. "I need your blood."

"Oh!" Sam clapped excitedly and pushed her glass in Klaus' hands. "Me too!"

"You're going to do this now?" Klaus blinked at the women. "In front of everyone?"

"Why not? It's not a party until there's a murder. Now give me your blood," Sam batted her lashes at him.

"We're not even sure if it'll work!"

"Oh, it will work," Peter smirked as he looked at the family. "As nearly everything Bella does, it will work."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Bella eyed Peter briefly after watching Kol bite his hand and poured the blood into her glass.

"Nothing."

Bella huffed. "Before everything, though, I want to do something. Something that I wished of doing for a very long time, although I have to admit, I am glad I managed to wait until now."

"What's on your mind, love?" Klaus was curious as he looked at the witch.

"I understand that you and Kol have already forgiven Rebekah and Elijah for abandoning you for so long, but truthfully, I haven't. I died with unresolved anger towards them, and I came back finding out they still neglected you."

"Family is supposed to be just that. Over the past 300 years, they've shown that they only want to be a family when it's needed when there is something big going on, and they want to polish their egos." Sam added as she took her glass from Klaus.

"So, I think both Elijah and Rebekah deserve a timeout," Bella said, revealing the two daggers that were underneath her napkin on the table and with a flick of her wrist, they found the hearts of the original vampires, and they started to desiccate immediately.

"Bella!" Klaus said surprised and wanted to take out the dagger out of Elijah's chest, but Bella pushed him back in his chair.

"No. I get it; you want them in your life. But they will fuck off again and leave you alone. So, now you can have them all nicely boxed up, and they've fucked off, but they're still in your life. You can remove the dagger them in like a hundred years or so," she said sternly.

Kol was amused by this. He knew his wife was still angry with his siblings but hadn't expected her to actually follow through with it.

"You gave me those daggers, Klaus. You trusted me with them, you said. You trusted me to make the right decisions, and now I've made one. Respect that."

Klaus scowled as he motioned for two vampires to take away his brother and sister. "Because you insist so nicely."

"Don't undagger them when I'm no longer a witch."

"I promise."

Bella looked at Peter for confirmation, and he nodded. Satisfied, Bella handed Sam a vial. "Vial first, then blood," she reminded her as she screwed open the lid.

"Bottoms up," Sam made a toasting movement and downed the liquid in one go before coughing out loud. "Fuck, that's vile."

"I never said it'd taste good," Bella said as she scrunched her nose before taking a sip or two from Kol's blood. "And that's even worse."

"Hey! I take offense to that," Kol objected.

"I don't like blood, remember?" She already felt sick to her stomach, and when she looked over to Sam, she had already finished what had been in her glass. Taking a deep breath, she downed her own liquid and wiped her mouth before shuddering. "Ugh."

 **[The Abattoir, French Quarter, New Orleans. February 20th, 2312. 9:45 pm]**

"She should have been back by now," Kol said worriedly as he paced around the bedroom. "Sam was back within the hour!"

"Sam has already been a vampire before, maybe her body didn't need that much work," Hope said calmly as she watched Kol wearing out the rug. "She'll come back."

"She promised!"

"Look, we know the spell works, take comfort in that. We are all aware that turning takes a little time."

"You're no help, Hope!"

"Stop fighting, you're giving me a headache," Bella muttered as she groggily sat up and looked around the room, seeing Hope and Kol there with worried expressions on their faces. "What? Didn't it work?"

"You took your damn time, Cuddles," Kol let out a sigh of relief and jumped on the bed to kiss her. "How do you feel?"

Bella shrugged as she tried to push him off the bed with her magic. "Great! No longer a witch!"

"I shall send in your wedding present," Hope smiled as she backed away to the door. "You're going to like this one. We found her on a street corner in the Ninth Ward crying out how people shouldn't abort babies, that it was an act against God and shit like that," she smirked. "This was before she walked into the liquor store and robbed it at gunpoint."

"Tracey is quite tasty," Kol said as he ran his hand through Bella's beautiful hair and frowned when he saw Bella pale when he mentioned how divine Hope's gift was. "Bella, you're almost a vampire. Vampires drink blood. You know this."

"Just pinch your nose, bite, and drink," Hope grinned as she pulled Tracey into the room. "Have fun you, two!"

Tracey was already bleeding, but she wasn't crying out in pain or saying anything in general. Someone had obviously compelled her. Tracey smelled of booze and cigarettes, and it was aggravating her nostrils. But underneath all that, Bella could smell the blood, and it made her hungry. She got off the bed and threw Tracey onto the bed before jumping on top of her, almost as if it was second nature. Without a blink, Bella latched on to the bleeding part of the woman's neck and started to drink the blood.

When the human blood bag stopped giving her blood, Bella pulled her up before hearing the bones shatter inside the woman's body as she tried to squeeze every little bit of blood out of her. Every. Last. Drop.

Kol had watched in fascination. Ever since he returned as a vampire, he had fantasized what it would feel like to see his wife feed like a vampire. Be a vampire. And if he had to be honest, it was the biggest turn on to watch her feed and mangle the body like that. When she tossed the body off the bed and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand as she looked at him through her lashes, he lost it.

He tore off her clothes as he greedily kissed her as she clawed at his while they both battled to get the upperhand. Adrenaline and lust surged through his body, a renewed passion between the both of them. Kol eventually managed to pin her down to the bed and smirked at her. "Happy Anniversary, Cuddles."

*fin*

* * *

 **A/N:** Thank you for reading this and sticking with the story! Be sure to check out my website for extra tidbits, such as a timeline to this story or updates on new stories that I'm working on!


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